I awoke early on Ghan boarding day, and had a last walk along Darwin's Esplanade in the cool of the morning, overlooking the Timor Sea from the elevated vantage-point offered at the cenotaph.
Darwin had been bombed in February 1942 with much loss of life in the city, and also at the wharf where a large number of military ships from the Australian and US navy had been berthed. Air-watchers at Bathurst and Melville Islands had sought to give a few minutes warning, but it was to little avail.
Darwin was evacuated, with much of the civilian population moving south. Military bases were also established south of the city, including at some of the places on the train journey south through which we would shortly pass.
Adelaide River was one, and allied airforce personnel from Australia, the UK, and the USA had variously been stationed there. I remembered airstrips dotted the Stuart Highway south, including one opposite the Defence property I had lived on as a school-kid called Sattler Airstrip.
It was a fraught time in northern Australia for a few years until the tide of the war changed in the Allies' favour.
Anyway, it was soon time to muster in the hotel foyer for the bus pick-up, and then, once loaded, head off about ten kilometres south and east of the CBD to the Darwin terminal.
Once aboard, I discovered I was allocated the same carriage and the same room as for the Indian-Pacific. That would save confusion, I thought.
Handily, that carriage was near the head of the train, and directly opposite the small terminal building where we disembarked the bus and found our cabin luggage.
As the train was 33 carriages in length, and 830 metres, there were many passengers who had a more substantial hike than I.
I took some pix and then went aboard.
The train left on schedule at 1000h, slowly at first as it left the Darwin built-up area, then picking up speed as it got into the start of the nearly 3,000kms journey through the outback.
We passed through a low-intensity grass-burn, done at this time early in The Dry to burn-off the grass and help promote new growth. Kites circled overhead ready to dive onto any small animal fleeing the flames. The area burnt looked like it was using the rail corridor as its western edge and the flames came quite close. For a time, our speed was reduced to 50kph, likely due to the smoke reducing visibility, but after a time we were back up to cruising speed around 90kph and a bit more.
The smoke was to have ramifications for some of my fellow-passengers, as I discovered later that evening.
We dined a little after mid-day, where I met Tammy from SE Queensland. Tammy seemed a little older than I, but she had travelled extensively in recent years. She told me of her visits, mostly to European countries as is the way with many older Australians. I had buffalo curry as my main.
Shortly afterwards, we readied ourselves for our first off-train excursions. Most seemed to be going to Nitmiluk Gorge (previously known as Katherine Gorge before it reverted to its Indigenous name).
There are several connected gorges at Nitmilik, joined up in one moving torrent in The Wet, but separating into several as the flow is reduced in The Dry. Our trip was up the first two of the series, cruising in small barges operated by the Jaywon people whose land we were on.
In The Wet, salt-water crocodiles can make their way along the water-course from Kakadu, upstream. Salties are the killers. You'd not want to be in the water with a saltie nearby.
There are freshwater crocs as well, and we saw two of them basking in the sun as we passed by. The freshies are smaller, and less dangerous to humans. The larger of the two we saw was probably a bit more than two metres in length.
Nitmiluk is very photogenic. I'm glad I now run a digital camera rather than a 36-shot film one.
After about three hours, we were back aboard, and amongst the first of the returnees. I met a pair in the lounge who had elected to take a 90-minute flight option over and along the grge and into Kakadu and Arnhem Land. I spotted that option on the list and considered it, despite its $400 per pax cost. There was also a helicopter 20-minute flight option for $200, overflying a few of the gorges.
I took neither, but the couple who'd taken the fixed-wing were told as they took off that the smoke from the fires meant they couldn't fly into Kakadu, and their flight was just over non-desccript bush country instead. They were a bit miffed as I would be in their circumstances.
I don't think there's any point in taking scenic flights in the Top End during the May-June burning season. The smoke-haze is considerable. Visibility will be poor over a vast distance.
Anyway, a Cointreau on ice was soon mine, followed by a shower, then a change for the evening meal and the chance to bump into new dining companions for my 2030h sitting.