First post of the year.

Is this really my first post for the year?
Have been doing other writing and letters, just not posting them up.

Darwin too far away.

Darwin is two days away.
It beckons us to come and explore its lush tropical vibe.
There is some apprehension about the choice of visiting Darwin in the middle of its wet season.
We decide to give it a burl.
A legendary trip up on the Ghan is the real draw card.
As usual I am packing at midnight the night before in blind panic.
The end result is usually far too many cosmetics I never use and not enough basic things like actual clothes(!)
The morning of the big train trip I am frantically making lists and sorting out crucial things like a clean up under the sink where no one ever looks.
Eventually we arrive at the station with ticket and bags and a mountain of reading material it would take six months to read.
The Ghan team greet us before we board and we find we are facing backwards all the way to Darwin.
Still the cabin is comfy and we get to watch the world go by with our feet up.
Once we have made decisions on when to eat we are duly summoned to the dining room.
Little booths with white tablecloths along the dining cabin.
Great wines and a very respectable menu selection.
In fact a large part of the journey is either eating, watching the world slide by or sleeping.
The other big plus is that we are now passing Port Augusta and heading into the land of ‘no signal’.
That is no internet, emails, TV, radio, Facebook and the compulsive grip of twenty four hour news.
Free to while away my time with my own thoughts, writings and reading said large pile of books, magazines and correspondence.
The only glimpse of the commercial world is a small amount of merchandise on the train.
We are greeted by many people during our dining experiences. Brits on long holidays, smug Californians on sabbaticals,
a trainspotter with coke bottle glasses and seasoned aussies from all over.
Alice Springs is the first stop over. We are warned to expect heat and as we leave the luxury of our air con we are slammed by a wave of pure heat.
It’s 40 degrees celcius in the shade and we are wilting fast. We head off with our friend to get a few supplies, noting the frozen roo tails on sale.
We then hop straight into our friend’s pool, a welcome respite.
Returning to our little nook on board we savor the cool and await the call for dinner.
We roll on throughout the night towards Katherine.
Katherine greets us with the full force of her humidity.
We take refuge in the visitors centre before loading up again on the stationary train.
This time we sit and go nowhere while we dine. The Edith river bridge wash out means we will take the bus from here on.
We sadly leave the comfort of our cabin to bus it to the steamy rains of Darwin town.
Across the land we came.