The first Ghan train trip in 2021 came to an abrupt end

On June 19, 2021, we traveled from Sydney to Adelaide for our first trip after the epidemic. After visiting Adelaide for four days, we left the Ibis Hotel on the morning of the 23rd and headed to Parklands Railway Station, preparing to take the GHAN train (GHAN) to start our nine-day trip to Uluru. Uluru is a huge single rock in central Australia, 3 kilometers long, 2 kilometers wide, and 350 meters high. Its main body is 6,000 meters deep under the earth's surface. This red boulder has a history of hundreds of millions of years and is a landmark in Australia. The Australian Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo is based on it. The local aborigines worship this boulder as a god and believe that their ancestors created this land and this immortal boulder. In 1987 it was listed as a world cultural and natural heritage. I have been in Australia for more than ten years and have longed for this big red boulder. This time I can finally have a look at it.

Another thing that makes me look forward to this trip is that we will take the Ghan train to travel through the vast hinterland of Australia. This railway line runs through the north and south of the Australian continent, offering a panoramic view of the stunning scenery from the South Australian hills to the central deserts and northern tropical rainforests. This train started operation in 1877. It is a symbol of Australian trains and one of the top ten scenic train routes in the world. The luxurious facilities and considerate services on the Ghan train have always been praised by passengers. Many Australians regard taking the Ghan train as the trip they most yearn for in their lives. As National Geographic magazine said, the Ghan train is an experience that cannot be missed in life.

Parklands Railway Station is small and is a dedicated station for the Ghan train. When we arrived at the station waiting room, there were already many people inside. Free orange juice and wine were provided in the waiting room, and there were people playing and singing to entertain the guests. Most of the passengers were elderly couples, with expressions of excitement and anticipation on their faces. What surprised us was that some old people came with crutches and wheelchairs. It seems that even people with limited mobility and disabilities don’t want to give up such a must-go trip in their lives. I checked in at the counter and checked in my two carry-on luggage.

In the center of the waiting room is a life-size statue of the Australian wedge-tailed eagle, the world's largest eagle, symbolizing the spirit of freedom and adventure embodied in the world's great train journeys.

The picture below is the Ghan train we will take. The train looks a bit old. I heard it is forty or fifty years old. There is a camel pattern and the English letters "THE GHAN" outside the carriage. GHAN is the abbreviation of Afghanistan in English. This is to commemorate the first Afghan camel caravan to cross the Australian continent more than a hundred years ago.

The Ghan train consists of 44 carriages and two locomotives, with a total length of 1.2 kilometers. It is currently the longest passenger train in the world. Since the station platform is not so long, the train has to be divided into two and stop at two platforms when stopping. The train runs at a speed of 85 kilometers per hour and can reach a maximum speed of 115 kilometers per hour. The train carries 190 passengers and more than 70 crew members. Train carriages are divided into two levels: platinum level and gold level. Platinum level is more luxurious and much more expensive. We chose the Gold level and found it comfortable enough. Each gold-class car has 8 to 9 private rooms, and every two cars has a living room car and a dining car. The starting point of the train is Adelaide, a city in southern Australia, and the destination is Darwin, a city in northern Australia. According to the train schedule, the train departed at 12:10 noon on June 23 and arrived at Alice Springs Railway Station in central Australia at 2:25 pm the next day. We will be dropped off there and take a tour bus to Uluru.

We got on the train at 11:50. Our carriage has 9 private rooms. We have box number one, which is smaller than domestic soft sleeper boxes. But in China, a soft sleeper box can accommodate four people, and this box only has two of us. Unlike the double beds in the platinum-level rooms, the beds in our rooms are bunk beds. The upper bunk is folded up during the day and opened at night before going to bed. There is a bathroom in the box with toilet and shower. The conductor told us that the water on the train is limited, so we should save water when showering and don't rinse for too long. He also introduced us to wardrobes, safes and firefighting equipment. In short, although the private room is not large, it is well-equipped, just like a pocket version of a hotel room, and is very comfortable for long-distance travel. I asked the conductor if there was Wi-Fi on the train? He said no, it seemed that the carriage was indeed a bit old. Since the train travels in a deserted place, there is probably no cell phone signal. This is fine, as we can enjoy the scenery along the way without interruption and enjoy our journey life to the fullest.

Our box is near the end of the carriage, and there is a small kitchen next to it. A faucet inside provides drinking cold and boiled water, and a variety of tea, coffee and milk are placed on the table. Travelers can make tea and coffee here.

The living room car is called the "Outback Explorer Lounge." This is where travelers come to rest and socialize. Free wine and drinks are provided on the train, where passengers can drink, chat and watch the scenery. I counted the seats on the sofa in the carriage, which was enough to accommodate the passengers in two compartments. Everyone had gone to the restaurant when we arrived and it was deserted. At this time, a waiter came over and asked us if we wanted to take a photo. We sat on the sofa and asked her to take a photo of us.

Passing through the living room carriage is the dining car. The decoration of the dining car has a strong retro sentiment, which makes people feel very warm. It has a nice name "Queen Adelaide Restaurant". Our lunch time is 13:15. I originally thought that the passengers went to the restaurant in batches, but when I arrived at the restaurant, I discovered that all the passengers were dining here at the same time.

The waiter brought us lunch and wine menus. All meals on the train are included in the fare and passengers do not need to pay extra. My wife and I ordered a salmon and chicken steak. The food came out in less than 20 minutes. The dishes are exquisite, beautifully presented and taste good. The wine list has a variety of wines, liquors, beers and drinks. Neither of us knows much about wine, so the waiter recommended us a red wine produced in South Australia. The main dish is freshly baked pumpkin bread, which is soft and delicious. The waiter saw that we were enjoying our meal and asked if we wanted more, so we each asked for one more. At this time, the train started slowly, and we enjoyed the beautiful wine and food while admiring the scenery outside the window. After the meal there was dessert, we ordered an ice cream and a cake.

After having enough wine and food, we returned to our private room. Unexpectedly, the train went back and arrived at Parklands train station at 2pm. At this time, I saw on the news that due to the spread of the epidemic in Sydney, South Australia had banned the entry of tourists from Sydney. I was a little uneasy, worried that the same situation would happen in the Northern Territory where we were going. My wife comforted me and said that it was such a coincidence that we encountered it on the first day they blocked the border. At this time, I heard from the conductor that the Northern Territory government had a news release at 3 p.m. After 3 pm, the conductor came to our box and told us that the Northern Territory government had issued an announcement that people who had been to the greater Sydney area in the past 14 days were not allowed to enter, which also meant that our trip was about to end as soon as it started. The conductor expressed his sympathy to us and said he would help us as much as possible. This is something I have never encountered in many years of traveling. I was a little confused when I heard the news. I saw from the car window that some passengers had already gotten off the bus, which showed that this was true. So we returned to the waiting room, where more than 40 Sydney passengers had gathered. The service staff at the station did their job very well. They quickly gave us a printed letter expressing regret for the incident and stating that all our train fares would be refunded for our next ride.

So I quickly booked a return ticket. I booked two tickets on a website, but I still couldn’t get confirmation. At this time, the station staff very thoughtfully brought us mineral water and arranged a bus to the airport. After we arrived at the airport, we went to the airline counter to inquire and found out that the airline no longer issued tickets to agents three hours before the flight, so I couldn't actually book a ticket online. Reluctantly, I bought two tickets back to Sydney at the counter, which were more than twice as expensive as those I booked online. The atmosphere at the airport was already very tense at this time. I saw police patrolling and urging everyone to wear masks. It was past ten o'clock in the evening when we returned to Sydney Airport. Our old classmates Tianxiong and his wife specially drove to pick us up. We stayed at his house for one night and drove back home by ourselves the next afternoon.