Anyone done The Ghan?

[heisenberg]

looks like a good trip

[Oh_hunnihunni]

My bff did it, having done the Alaska river and train one and then the euro river she was so taken by the beautifully managed tour thing the Ghan seemed a natural close to home follow up. And she did enjoy it, did it with the same group they struck up a friendship with on the euro one. But she said it wasn't the same, for two reasons - one, they all got totally sick of red earth landscapes, lol, and second, it was too close to home - not foreign enough. Which is a rather weird reason but then maybe not. She was also not entirely well on the Ghan trip so I think that influenced her feelings.

But these were really good investments on their part, because she got one of those awful diagnoses on her return and died a year later, so we were all really pleased she had had those adventures.

Of them all the far north one was the stunner she said, worth doing every year if someone could afford it!

I was deeply jealous. In my experience travel is the one thing we can all spend some money on that pays back so much more in life experience. I don't regret a penny of the thousands I have put into the trips I have done. Such incredible memories, such huge learning.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Just read a good bit of life advice, from an 80 year old. 'Go somewhere you want to go, while you still can, and while that somewhere is still there...'

Wisdom. Right there.

[heisenberg]

yes i was talking to a woman who had done it she said its interesting but lots of dusty nothing, might do a european river cruise instead

[Oh_hunnihunni]

A lot of historical options with that one, castles and galleries and museums. Ali scared her husband silly with one stop, she found out on their last day at Vienna that the Willendorf Venus was in the Museum there and decided to leave the river boat and go to see it after timing it out with one of the staff. Her husband was one of those averse to risk types and not in favour, but off she went, two buses and a fast walk to get there, and then she found she had timed it perfectly near closing and was the only one in the room where they house the Venus. She had ten minutes with the statue and found being in her presence quite other worldly. Then she did the return trip to get back to the boat with just minutes to spare and her husband pacing up and down the wharf, getting more and more furious. But she said it was the most precious of gifts, and a highlight of the trip.

So if you get to Vienna and see the Venus I'll be interested to see if she has the same effect on your soul. It seems she has something very special about her.

Mind you, so did my friend Ali. Maybe the two had a lot in common.

[harm_less]

yes i was talking to a woman who had done it she said its interesting but lots of dusty nothing, might do a european river cruise instead

I regularly flew AKL to Singapore back in the 1980s and remember what seemed like half of the flight looking down on red wasteland. Can't imagine grinding through that landscape in a train would be very inspiring.

[zqwerty]

My long departed parents have done the River Cruise down the Rhine a number of times back in the 70's, they loved it.

[heisenberg]

yes i was talking to a woman who had done it she said its interesting but lots of dusty nothing, might do a european river cruise instead

I regularly flew AKL to Singapore back in the 1980s and remember what seemed like half of the flight looking down on red wasteland. Can't imagine grinding through that landscape in a train would be very inspiring.

yes have done same flight several times and it looks like the outback goes on forever

[zqwerty]

"it looks like the outback goes on forever"

which it does do in as much as it can do anywhere on Earth, maybe only Sahara Desert east/west could seem bigger or Russian Steppes might be more monotonous.