It's winter here "Down Under".  I packed a wool sweater and heavy hooded jacket, warm socks and announced to the staff, "If any one calls, tell them he's "Gone on the Ghan".  They'll most likely, not understand!"

The 14th of July dawned sunny and warm in Sydney, not at all cold as I had expected.  The temperature at noon was 15C (59F) and the park my room overlooked was green, not the winter brown I expected.  A short sleeved shirt was fine until sundown when it turned chilly and a bit breezy, making a long sleeved shirt and sweater or jacket necessary.  A visit to Sydney in mid-winter is most pleasant and 50% off bargain sales added another reason for a mid-July visit.  I wandered to Sydney's world famous Opera House, fronting the harbor, but the attractions most appealing to me were to open in August. The Opera House here is actually four theaters in one building.  One usually has a choice of opera, chamber music, a symphony, drama or the like. 

The Ghan leaves from Adelaide, capital of South Australia.  Adelaide was a pleasant surprise.  A friend, familiar with this city in south central Australia, told of an economically depressed time that had left boarded store-fronts and a general depressed feeling.  Much to my surprise, first of all, this winter day in Adelaide was even warmer than Sydney, leaving the city green and pleasant.  Crops are produced year-round in this part of Australia.  It's relationship to the sea and desert give it a climate one would expect of Los Angeles.  Though a city of a million residents, unlike Los Angeles, there are no downtown expressways here.  The city is uniquely divided into park lands that circle the city and has developed from plans laid out nearly 150 years ago, and allows Adelaide to carry its traffic load on normal downtown city streets without the traffic jams associated with other cities of this size.  Beautiful estate homes rivaling those of the plantations of the old south in the U.S. are seen right in the city of Adelaide.  The high cost of upkeep of these splendid homes has turned some into commercial business offices.  One particularly neglected downtown area has been revived with the opening of a series of restaurants lining the area of several blocks, bringing life back to the formerly depressed district.  I lunched on Oysters Fitzpatrick, tender lamb and a glass of wine, the stress of Tokyo life was drifting away.

Many settlers in Adelaide originated from Germany in the 1830's and brought their vines for wine making and brewing skills with them.  This has made wine making here a national treasure of Australia.  Other areas have now begun the production of wines, but none can yet match the skills and experience of the producers at Adelaide.

With the same sense of excitement of boarding the "Eastern & Oriental Express", I climbed aboard "The Ghan" and settled into my compartment, bound from Adelaide to Alice Springs located right in the center of Australia in what is referred to as "The Outback".

The harshness of the desert Outback presented a challenge of immense proportions to the development of the area as well as laying of telegraph lines to Stuart, today known as Alice Springs.  Camels were brought from today's Pakistan and Afghanistan.  These first 124 camels arrived in 1869.  The cameleers came from Afghanistan, Persia and India and became affectionately known as Afgans, shortened to "Ghans".

Departure of the first "Ghan" passenger train left Adelaide at 10:15am on the 4th of August 1929, some 60 years after these first camel caravans, beginning the first rail service to journey these 1,555 kilometers (964 miles) to Alice Springs.  Advice to passengers was not to expect much of Alice Springs.  "It's a sort of a village with only two substantial buildings, The Start Arms and the Wallis Fogarie Store.  There are no churches, but there is a police station and an aerodrome of sorts".  (For prospective of the time, it was 1928 that Walt Disney introduced Mickey Mouse to the world).

In 1929, this trip took two days, but we would make it in half that time.  We were advised that at times in the middle of nowhere, we would be likely to pull onto a siding and stop to allow passage of "Super Trains" that thunder across Australia from cities as Sydney in the east to Perth in the west.  These trains pull up to 3,000 tons of freight.  It would take 4,000 camels to move the same loads.

As the Ghan passed Port Germein, we saw in the distance a long jetty, we were told extends one and a half kilometers into the sea, making it the worlds longest.  Early settlers moved into areas of the Flinders Range and grew bountiful crops with anticipation of great production the jetty would allow sailing ships to dock and load grain.  Then came the great drought.  Not only had hoofs of cattle and sheep destroyed the land, it was discovered that here, drought was a natural phenomenon and the eras of gentle rains to be rare.

An evening arrival into Port Augusta marked the end of settled areas of Australia and the passage into the Outback or desert begins here.  Coal trains as long as 2 km (1.3 miles) long bring coal to Port Augusta from the open pit mines in Leigh Creek.  The sun began to set and stubby rows in the fields of newly harvested barley turned the rolling hills to gold.  We enjoyed the beauty of the evening as the stars appeared in the panoramic views from the Club Car.  The comfortable overstuffed chairs could be moved if one wished to form a circle to visit, or face towards the windows for fine viewing.

You may bring your car along too, as four vehicle carriers are attached to the rear of the train.

The single occupancy compartments are uniquely designed and compact to the point the aisle twists like a snake the length of the cars.  The compartments have a toilet and wash basin system and as this takes a bit of extra width, the designers alternated them in compartments.  This effect makes for the strange aisle effect.  The ride was smooth and the bed comfy.  I called it a night early and slept till the knock at the door announced the arrival of morning tea at 6:30.

The passenger list spanned across the nations, but was mostly made up of Aussies and Kiwis (Australians and New Zealanders).  Represented also were the French, Danish and Americans.  The Danish couple's son celebrated his 16th birthday aboard.  The father, a barber brought the family to spend 5 weeks traveling in Australia.  The Club Car was always busy with sightseers and visiting with others found a wide span of occupations from a lawyer, souvenir shop owner, stock broker, doctor, politician and retired folks.  By nature, I find Australians and New Zealanders to be extremely friendly, so even traveling alone, it's easy to join conversations and feel a part of the group.  A prominent sign at Adelaide Station stated, "No alcoholic beverages permitted on board".  This I learned was to enhance the sale of spirits by the bar in the Club Car, not to limit consumption of alcohol!  The Aussies, especially, are, be it earned or not, notorious for the unabashed drinking and great fun, but this group aboard the Ghan represented the other side of the coin, reserved, quiet, serious and pleasant.

Dinner and breakfast were included in the fare and there are 2 sittings to accommodate the passengers.  Those traveling with children seemed to be urged to take the first sitting as the second sitting was without children.  A choice of 3 entrees provided a nice selection.

Specks of red pierced the black night sky, then the same deep red illuminated the clouds, turning them also red against the still black night sky and then seconds later, this was trimmed with yellow as the trees of the desert remained black.  The yellow turned to green and it was dawn.

Deserts intrigue me, not so much in the similarity, but in their diversity.  As a child, I thought of a desert as those in the southwest of the U.S., sand, pipe organ cactus and sagebrush.  Later I visited the Taklamakin in the west of China to find a desert of nothing but stones.  Nothing else at all, just rocks.  This desert in Australia's Outback is quite different yet.  Here a variety of desert trees grow to a height of 10-12 feet and there is just enough green available to sustain animal life, even wild horses are seen and some beef cattle grazing is done, though it takes many acres to support only one animal as large as cattle.

By 10:30am, we arrived in Alice Springs and I taxied directly to the airport for my flight to Ayers Rock.  The Qantas flight of about 30 minutes does not make a direct approach for the landing, but instead makes a circularly approach to give those seated on each side a view of the Rock.  I rented a car and drove to the Rock and watched people making the climb to the top.  This looked easy from a distance, but once you reach the starting point, many were deterred, like me.  The Aborigine groups here strongly oppose the climbing of the Rock they consider sacred, and I can only bow to their respect and forego any desire to make the climb.  Most of us don't realize that Ayers and the nearby Olga Group, even more impressive to me than Ayers Rock that stands alone, are religious sacred sites to the Aborigine groups still living here.  Similar to the American Indians, these Aborigine groups were simply overwhelmed by Australia's settlers and only later had land returned to them and an appreciation of their culture developed.

Evidence suggests for 22,000 years, Aboriginal people have lived in the Uluru area.  These Aboriginal people are the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara.  The area was first mapped in 1872 / 1873.  In 1976, the Anagu commenced a complex battle to protect their traditional lands here in Central Australia.  On 26 October 1985, the Uluru / Kata Tjuta Land Trust accepted the title to the national park on behalf of the original owners and immediately leased it to the Commonwealth Government of Australia.

Ayers Rock (Uluru) and The Olgas (Kata Tjuta) lie within Uluru National Park which is protected as a World Heritage Site.  Ayers Rock rises 1,100ft. above the surrounding plains and 63km (39mls) away lies the 36 domes of the Olgas, a maze of rock formations covering 22 square kilometers.  The Olgas are every bit as impressive as Ayers Rock.  Ayers Rock is not only spectacular because of the size, but the fact the red color composition of the rock changes throughout the day as the sun's rays strike it.  Intense geological activity nearly 300 million years ago tipped the rock strata 90 degrees at Ayers and 15 degrees at the Olgas.  Two thirds of each foundation is below the surface.  About 40 million years ago, the erosion process ended, leaving the rocks standing as one sees them today.

I had enough time to drive around the Rock, stop a few times to enjoy the views, continue to the Olgas and take photos when the overcast sky let loose a sprinkling of rain, then a steady drizzle that lasted until heavy rain prevailed throughout the night.  It happens only a few times a year, so I considered myself privileged rather than distressed, but there was no chance for a sunset or sunrise view of the Rock.