Our early bird pattern continued, giving me plenty of time to work on the blog. I’d loaded all of the pics and videos for Saturday last night, so just had to add narrative and some pic titles which doesn’t need great wifi.
Xfinity mail problems from last night also resolved. Apparently Xfinity decided to require a new password “for my security” without telling me. Took me quite a while and some irritation to discover and fix that.
I also managed to solve a problem with my blogging app, Jetpack, (caused by my trying to switch from the phone to the iPad) in my usual way: tapping on stuff until it mysteriously takes me where I want to go.
After the buffet (which had a couple of snafus – now expected), we packed up and went to the waiting area, where our limo soon appeared. Quick drive to the RR station and into the Gold Premium checkin line for The Ghan.
The Ghan (worth a wikilook) pronounced as in “Afghan,” so named for the Afghan camel drivers who played a crucial role in early Australian settlement.
Gold Premium is actually second class, next to Platinum, but the line was short and we quickly checked in – fortunately able to keep our smaller bags in our cabin. We found seats in the crowded waiting room but didn’t have to wait too long before a manager did a welcome over a PA, introduced the leaders of the huge train staff (663 meters long, with 28 carriages, carrying 190 guests, and a serving staff of 35), shouted “All Aboard” and we boarded – and then waited another half hour.
Our cabin, surprisingly, was really little more than a cubicle,
but with an attached toilet/shower that was a marvel of ingenious use of space. Frankly, I was a little disappointed in the decor of the train, having expected it to have a more classical look, ala Orient Express. It was more deco-sterile, ala the 30s or 50s. On the other hand, things were in good shape and generally worked well, albeit requiring occasional instruction from staff to operate.
Plenty of outlets for plugs and charging cords, espresso machine etc at the end of each car, and a lot of convenience lights made it all pretty functional. The windows (with blinds) were large, but could have used a cleaning.
We were soon cruising along through farm fields with little of interest to see. A steward came by and, among other things, said there was wifi in the lounge. We were using the phones as hotspots and decided to try out the lounge, in part also to get out of the cubicle. Too many others had the same idea, and the drinking was heavy, the captive wifi not great, and so we went back to our cabin, which required passing through three cars. We were at the end of car B and the lounge (and dining car) were between D and E, all sleepers that make up the tail of the train, along with car A at the end. which presumably was Platinum class.
We had an allotted lunch time of 1:30 and went to the dining car punctually, where we were paired with a youngish French couple from Lyon (Nada and Joe – Nada originally from Morocco).
The lunch was quite showy (probably good advertising), and also quite good: three courses, comp drinks (all day).
Conversation, which included politics (Trump not the only problem, our France and Morocco experiences, their USA travel) lasted quite a while.
The scenery started getting a little better…
including some windmills at one point…
and then we stopped in a small town, sat until an announcement that we had arrived early and had to wait for the replacement driver to arrive, which we did – seemed like a long time. We finally got going again, I got the cards from the room, and we played two games of Rummy 500…
but Dana wiped me, and a weird little India guy started hovering a little too close, and so we went back to our cabin.
I stared out the window at the developing scenery for quite a while – American SW, reddening dirt – and I took some pics…
finally getting to the beginnings of a sunset….
that improved before terminating.
Then a 7 pm dinner where we got paired with an ex-California couple that had been nomads for several years with no home address. One can’t help thinking of fugitive status. The woman was quite nice and interesting – the guy an ex aircraft mechanic with a relentless sense of self-importance and unbridled hubris. I was forced to subtly confront him several times but I’m not sure he realized it until after the fact.
The dinner was quite good, again showy, several courses, and it took a while. We excused ourselves at the first opportunity (which came around 8:30) went back to the room (which had been converted to bunks), hooked up our devices, read in bed a bit and did lights out a little early. D was in the lower bunk…
and I was in the upper, which was cramped. Can’t imagine how the other passengers, all a lot bulkier than us, managed. As things quieted, the noise and jostling of the train became surprisingly pronounced, but I was sleepy from the dinner, especially the desert, and I nodded off quickly.
Dana and Roger Travels 
Absolutely love train travel, assuming a sleeper cabin. How ingeniously they offer so much in so little space. And the soft rocking and rhythmic sound is meditative for me. And a real treat (often) to be paired at the dining table with random fellow travelers.
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