My last week in Australia was a fairly busy, and expensive one. After spending a large amount of time lounging around Darwin, I realized that I needed to go to Ayer’s Rock, or Uluru as it is known to the Aboriginal people, since it is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Australia. I had considered not going there, but Lora convinced me that it was worth it, so I booked myself on a 3 day camping trip, and arranged my transportation to Alice Springs, the closest town. In my lazy stupor, I insanely decided to take the overnight train, The Ghan, from Darwin to Alice Springs. It was only 24 hours, and was the same price as flying, so I thought I might see some interesting things along the way. I left Lora Monday morning, as she was staying in Darwin for the duration, and boarded the train south. As I continue to learn, but apparently not remember, in Australia, the road anywhere is almost never interesting scenery-wise. The one place we did stop, Katherine, I had already been. Our 4 hour stop in Katherine was uneventful, as they were still pulling salties out of Katherine Gorge and weren’t allowing the canoe trips, and I didn’t want to take an expensive cruise. So I strolled through the town again, and browsed the art galleries and shops, just trying to kill time. We were back on the train again at 7pm, and after dinner a movie was put on and we settled down for the night. Unlike the Indian Pacific however, the seats were fairly comfortable, and the train was almost empty, allowing me 4 seats to myself to sleep on. It was an uneventful trip, as we arrived in Alice on time with no problems. My hostel had a pick up at the station, and I was quickly whisked away, checked in, confirmed my tour for the next day (which was run by the hostel), showered and off I went into town. My one main goal in Alice would be to find some Aboriginal art, and I was on a mission. [read on]
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