Day 1 on the Ghan – The view

22nd August 2007 – Day 1 on the Ghan – The View

Traveling on the Ghan (or the Indian Pacific) certainly gives ‘a room with a view’.

From the seat in my cabin I can watch Australia slip by. People say they find the views, and the trip, boring – I can’t see why as things are constantly changing.

Looking at the ‘bush’ I am constantly amazed at how dry it appears and yet it is full of trees, termite hills, and grasses. Lots of rock, sand and red soil. There does seem to have been a lot of areas of burnt bush. These fires must be massive when they get going.

There is very little water around. There do seem to be some ‘ponds’ near the railway track which look as though they were dug out during construction. When it rains here, by the look of the gullies, the water channels, and the piping to take water under the track, it must really rain!

One thing that does strike me is the absence of animals. No (or very few) birds, and no obvious ‘ground-dwelling’ creatures.