The only way to complete australia's epic north-south crossing in style

Phoebe Smith 25 June 2021 5:00pm BST Australia is big. Very big. In fact, were you to travel from London to Moscow you’d still have traversed 300km less than if you’d undertaken the journey

from the city of Darwin in the Northern Territory to South Australia’s capital of Adelaide. Indeed, so incomprehensible was the size to Europeans when they first arrived Down Under, that in

1859 the Government offered a cash prize to the first person to successfully complete a south-north crossing of the country. Nowadays, with the existence of a sealed road, the offer of money

to those who complete such a voyage has naturally been rescinded, but it’s still a hugely popular undertaking. Many opt to hire a 4x4 and travel along the aforementioned Stuart Highway –

named after John McDouall Stuart who was the first one to complete the traverse. But I decided I wanted take inspiration from explorers Burke and Wills who attempted a crossing in 1861. Keen

to travel in style, they took enough food to last two years, a cedar-topped table and a Chinese gong. Instead, I was taking The Ghan train to cover the 2,979km (rather than camels and

horses) and though I wouldn’t need 24-months of supplies I was assured that there would be ample locally sourced food and Australian wines, lacquered wooden tables to dine off and my very

own en-suite toilet. No gong though.   I arrived at the station on the outskirts of Darwin to see the silver sided carriages glow almost pink in the early morning sun. On the platform a

musician played aboriginal songs mixing guitar and vocals with the unmistakable wobbly notes of a didgeridoo, while servers plied us with champagne. Once onboard I was led to my cabin –

which featured a three-seater sofa and a giant picture window. I took a seat and almost immediately the train left any trace of civilisation and was plunged into boundless tracts of desert

land, featuring only a mere splash of green from the occasional appearance of foliage. The train moved slowly, while the dazzling colours of yellow, ochre and tan become hypnotic. I was on

the three-night trip, taking in three stops along the route. The first was the outback township of Katherine, entryway to Nitmiluk Gorge, the place where it’s said the outback meets the

tropics. On arrival we were taken by bus to a waiting boat for a cruise along the water that weaves through the narrows of the gulch. Soon the vast stretches of sand were replaced by

towering cliffs of orange sandstone as I drifted down the waterway looking for wildlife. Small freshwater crocs bobbed in the emerald waters while red-tailed black cockatoos squawked from

the trees. As we pottered along the traditional owners of the park, the Jawoyn people, told creation stories about the gorge. “Nitmiluk means – place where the cicada is dreaming,” explained

the guide, as the gorge’s insect namesake chimed their distinct buzz in the humid air. We alighted at a natural harbour and were taken along a winding walking path to clusters of rocky

overhangs where stories were now told visually via centuries-old paintings on the stone walls. Some depicted hunting scenes; others nodded to the local wildlife such as wallaroos – a kind of

kangaroo-wallaby mixture, and others depicted ceremonial practises. Back on the train, we celebrated the first stop with crocodile sausage, kangaroo steak and saltwater barramundi. I

returned to my cabin to find the sofa had been transformed into a bed with a sumptuously soft duvet and big fluffy pillows. I fell asleep to the rocking of the train while outside the

outback surrounded me on all sides of the carriage as we made our way deep into the Red Centre.  Over breakfast the train grew closer to the next stop. Alice Springs is roughly the

centremost point of the country. This little telegraph town was settled by westerners in 1871 when, following the successful crossing of the country, an overland telegraph line was

constructed to link the north with the south.  Within minutes of arrival I was whisked from the platform to the airfield to be taken directly to the trip’s highlight – Uluru. I’d seen the

mighty rock before, but that had been following a six-hour coach journey. Now in utter luxury I was to reach it in under an hour. Taking off above Alice we immediately flew above the

undulating hills of the Flinders Ranges, before gliding over miles of dried up river beds that haven’t seen water for decades. Then I spotted it – the cluster of rocks known as Kata Tjuta, a

collection of bald mountain-like domes, squashed together in a clump to the west of its more famous rocky cousin. “If you stand beneath it,” said the pilot, “it’s said you can hear the wind

whistling as though the voices of people from the past are speaking to us, telling us their secrets.”  He banked right to swoop us over them before heading straight for Uluru itself. From

above, its top is cleaved with oblique lines, which appear as though scratched by a giant. We landed to be served champagne and hot lunch, with a near perfect view of The Rock without a

coachload of tourists anywhere in sight. Following a whistle-stop tour we flew back to Alice Springs, from where we could see the Ghan snaking on the train tracks like a metallic

caterpillar. But we didn’t rush off straight away. That night we were taken to the Telegraph Station on the outskirts of the town for a barbecue dinner and more wine, while above us the

stars began to twinkle just as they would for the early explorers on their traverse of this sprawling country.  The next day we would leave the Northern Territory, saying farewell to its red

rocks as we greeted the lemon-yellow landscape of South Australia. There, we’d be taken on strolls around The Breakaway Mountains – made up of lines of chalkstone, limestone and sandstone.

We’d wander amid the dugout houses of Coober Pedy, the mining town where 65 percent of the residents live underground; before finally weaving by the vineyards of the Clare Valley enroute to

Adelaide.   But before that I would fall asleep in the depths of the Northern Territory, dreaming of deep gorges, giant red rocks and a sky filled with a million stars. A great many things

may have changed in the 160 years since the first crossing of this vast country, but one thing’s for sure, the rewards – though not monetary - are still just as great as they were back in

1861. THE DETAIL Tickets for the Ghan are available from journeybeyondrail.com.au. Prices are from $2,349pp which includes all off-train excursions as well as drinks and meals in the lounge

cars. _Although it is on the UK's '__green list__' for travel, Australia's borders are currently closed. It is expected that tourism to Australia will begin to resume in

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