When I was in Cairns, Queensland state, I tried my best to find all kinds of manners to leave Cairns in order to visit the monolith in Alice Springs which is listed as the World Heritage. The first way: By Grey Hound bus, it cost around 275 bucks, total distance is 2430 kilometers. This travel distance by bus made me feel the pain of my bum, even though I had many experiences in staying overnight on Grey Hound buses and I didn't have to pay for the accommodation. I just couldn't bear to sit on the bus for two or three days. The second way: By the domestic airplane directly from Cairns to Alice Springs, I didn't adopt this manner because the ticket price is usually at least five to six hundred bucks. I heard from my friend that there is a railway passing through the center of Australia (outback) which is called Ghan. Therefore the third way came out, it cost 230 bucks to flight directly from Cairns to Adelaide, plus the Ghan ticket from Adelaide to Alice Springs costing 149 bucks, just a little bit more money but got different experiences.
那時我人在東岸昆士蘭省的凱因斯，為了前往愛麗絲泉參觀被列為世界遺產的大石頭，想盡辦法收集資料找出各種可能的移動方式。第一：搭乘灰狗巴士，價錢約二百七十五澳幣（約六千八百台幣），距離約二千四百三十公里。光是看到這數字，我屁屁就痛了起來，雖然有多次在灰狗巴士上過夜的經驗，還可以省下一筆住宿費。這種一坐就是二、三天的行程，我實在無法忍受。第二：國內班機由凱因斯直飛愛麗絲泉，不採用這一點是因為，機票少說也要五、六百澳幣（約一萬二千台幣）。從我朋友那得知，才知道原來有一條貫穿澳洲中部沙漠的鐵路，叫做Ghan。因此有了第三個方案，從凱因斯直飛阿德雷德約二百三十澳幣（五千七百台幣）加上Ghan車票從阿德雷德至愛麗絲泉為一百四十九澳幣（約三千七百台幣），多了一點錢，但多了不同的體驗。
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
Ghan阿德雷德火車站
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
Ghan阿德雷德火車站
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
Ghan阿德雷德火車站
There are two major long-distance railways in Australia. One of them is Indian Pacific, east-west direction, from Perth in Western Australia to Sydney in Eastern Australia via Adelaide (It departs twice per week in both directions), total distance is 4352 kilometers, and the trip takes three days. Another one is Ghan, south-north direction, from Adelaide in South Australia to Darwin in North Territory via Alice Springs (It departs twice per week in both directions), total distance is 2779 kilometers, and the trip takes two days.
澳洲的主要的長程火車有兩條。一條叫印地安太平洋號，是東西向，從西澳柏斯經阿德雷德到東澳的雪梨（雙向，每週各二班次），全程四千三百五十二公里，需時三天。另一條叫Ghan，為南北向，從南澳阿德雷德經愛麗絲泉到北領地的達爾文（雙向，每週各二班次），全程二千七百七十九公里，需時二天。
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
Ghan火車車箱模型
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
Ghan火車車箱模型（金色、白金服務？）
The place in which Alice Springs locates is called Outback, most of the land are desert with extremely few rainfall, the desert here is totally different from the desert we've ever seen in the TV program, it's red color on which lots of yellow and green plants grow instead of the yellow one. In 1862, a Scottish whose name was Stuart leaded him team to pass through the Outback from Adelaide in South Australia to Darwin in North Territory by camel, before his success he had tried five times already. The Ghan might not be built without his success in passing. Prior to completion of the train in 1929, the final leg of the train journey to Alice Springs was still by camel (The connection was completed only from Adelaide to Alice Springs in 1929). The train journey was finished in 2004. This year is the 80th anniversary of the Ghan.
愛麗絲泉所在的地方被澳洲人稱為內地，大部份的土地都是沙漠地區，雨量極少。這裡的沙漠和我們在電視上所看到的沙漠完全不同，並不是黃沙滾滾，而是紅紅的一片，上面還長了不少耐熱的黃、綠色的植物。在一八六二年時，有一個叫做Stuart的蘇格蘭人，成功的帶領他的團隊乘坐駱駝從澳洲南邊的阿德雷德穿過廣大的沙漠抵達澳洲北邊的達爾文，再這之前他共嘗試了五次。因為他才有後來的Ghan火車的開通。在一九二九年開始以火車載客之前（僅阿德雷德至愛麗絲泉開通），都是利用駱駝來載客。由愛麗絲泉至達爾文的路段還是在二○○四年才正式開通。今年正好是Ghan的八十周年。
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
阿德雷德月台
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
Ghan火車
The train should provide some facilities in order to stay overnight, took our carriage as example, it's the cheapest price, Red-service, it provides only a seat that can be leaned, two toilets in one side of our carriage, two bathrooms in the other side of our carriage. The carriage next to ours in the toilet side was a restaurant carriage, it not only sells the delicatessens, souvenirs but also has seven to eight tables for you to dine, chat. It's the only two places with plug besides bathrooms. The train crew declared that don't use your laptop in the restaurant carriage during the dining time. If you buy a Gold-service or Platinum-service ticket, you can have your own bed, cabin, the price includes the meals as well, even a bathroom, I think to have a plug is basic but the ticket price is pricey to us, backpackers.
需要在火車上過夜，一些該有的設施當然不能少，以我們那個車箱為例，它是最平價的紅色服務，只提供可斜躺的坐椅，車箱前面有兩間廁所，車箱後面有兩間浴室。我們車箱的前一個車箱是餐廳，除了販賣熱食、紀念品之外還有七、八張餐桌讓你在那用餐、聊天。那邊也是除了浴室之外，唯二有插座的地方。服務人員還特別聲明，盡量不要在用餐時間在那邊使用筆電。如果是更高等的，像是金色、白金服務，有自己的床、包箱，費用也已包含了餐點，甚至有自己的衛浴設備，插座應該是基本的，不過票價對我們這些背包客來說一點都不親近。
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
Ghan車票外皮
The length of the train chain is very long, each carriage is around 30 to 50 meters, besides twenty to thirty carriages for passengers, there are carriages for carrying cars, baggages. I guess the length of the train chain is close to one kilometer.
火車長度非常的長，每節車箱大約三十到五十公尺，除了二、三十節載客用的車箱，還有運轎車、運行李，我猜測全長一公里可能跑不掉。
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
搬運旅客行李的小車
I reckon the number of travelers is much more than that of commuters on the Ghan. Therefore, the train driver would slow down the train when it was closing some scenic spots for the passengers to have some pictures. The first spot was: the border of SA and NT. The second was: Iron man sculpture. The third was: Finkie river. Two of the stations, Alice Springs and Katherine, you can pay extra money to do some tours when the train stops. Such as canoeing in Katherine gorge.
我覺得這台火車上，旅客應該遠多於利用它來通勤的人，也因此，在經過幾個地方時，司機會將火車速度降到非常慢，讓車上的旅客能夠拍照。第一個景點是：南澳洲和北領地的交接處。第二個景點是：鐵人雕像。第三個景點是：芬克河。在火車路線上的兩個站，愛麗絲泉和凱薩林，因為火車在這裡會停靠一段時間，業者有和當地的旅行團合作，在停靠期間，能夠付費參加一些活動。像是在凱薩林峽谷划獨木舟或是雙人木舟。
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
紅色服務車箱
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
金色服務車箱
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
餐廳車箱上的熱食、紀念品販賣部
The day was on Wednesday, 27/5/2009, before arriving Port Augusta, the train crew broadcast that that train will stop for forty minutes, all the passengers can get off the train to have some exercises and stretch your body. The two western girls coming from unknown country confirmed from me if we can get off or not. When getting out the train, the train crew standing outside the door told the passengers specially, please don't leave too far away from the platform. How about the forty minutes just broadcasting? It might make someone misunderstand. Whatever I just looked around and took some pictures near the platform.
那一天是二○○九年五月二十七號星期三，在抵達奧古斯塔港之前，火車上就廣播我們預計在奧古斯塔港停留約四十分鐘的時間，乘客們可以下去走走，伸展筋骨。旁邊兩位不知哪個國家來的西方小姐還向我確認，是不是能下去晃晃。下火車時，門口的服務人員特別說，麻煩不要離開車站太遠。那剛剛廣播的時間是假的嗎？不過我也只是在附近商店看看、拍拍照。
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
紅色服務車箱內部
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
奧古斯塔港的月台
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
奧古斯塔港的月台（天橋上拍攝Ghan）
The train departed after stopping around 20 minutes, it was about six o'clock, the sky was getting dark and cold. The temperature difference in Australia is always huge, in this season, the temperature was below 10 at night I guess. Around two hours passing, we couldn't see anything outside which was a desert without any building. All of a sudden, I heard the sound of gas leaking from the place near the bathroom, not too many people went there because only few people had a shower. Then, the alarm bell started, a guy asked us to inform the train manager in the front part of the train chain, few minutes later the train stopped. At first time I was thinking that was there something abnormal? A train crew told us someone wanna jump of the train. The speed of this train was about 100 kilometers. You had to face the bad environment outside, desert, dark sky, cold weather, even being attacked by the wildlife if you survived the jump from the 100 kilometers train.
大約二十分鐘，火車就開走了，那時已經六點多，天色也漸暗，當時的天氣已經有點涼。澳洲日夜溫差大，這個季節到了晚上溫度應該是在十度以下。火車開了約兩個小時，車窗外什麼鬼影都看不到，沙漠地區，一遍荒涼。突然我聽到後方接近浴室的地方有大量的氣體外洩的聲音，那個地方出入的人不多，因為很少人去洗澡。接著警鈴響了起來，有人要我們這個車箱的人到前面通知火車上的管理者，過了不久火車停了下來。我的第一個想法是，是不是火車有什麼異常、故障。一位火車服務員說，有人想跳火車。這一台火車的速度大約是一百公里。就算跳下去沒死，外面是沙漠，什麼東西都沒有，天黑黑，冷颼颼的，還可能會被野生動物攻擊。
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Few minutes later, the train crew came back again, and said the guy found the train was pulling away when he got back to the platform at Port Augusta, his baggages and passport was on the train, so he grabbed the handrail and stood on the stairwell outside the door until he heard someone moved around the bathroom, he tried his best to shout, and was found luckily. The train would keep driving for at least twelve hours, the temperature outside the trains was low, if he wasn't seen no one knew how long he could sustain. So far, he had surfed on the train for around two hours. The train crew reckoned his behavior was ridiculous, once you missed it, you should wait for the next train instead of taking the risk. But the next train would come on Sunday, his baggage and passport was on the train, and had to buy another ticket, probably these were the reasons to ignore the safety. Anyway, the result was good. The train crew told us he was freezing, afterwards many crews brought different of kinds of hot food to the carriage behind ours, it cost much to have these free hot food (The food on the Ghan are pricey with a little amount). Actually, the guy sat in the same carriage as me before the accident. He felt embarrassed to sit back because all the passengers knew what he had done. The crew help him bring his baggage.
過沒多久，那位火車服務員又回來了，他說那個人在奧古斯塔港，因為離開太遠，回來時發現火車的門已關閉且開始啟動，行李、護照也放著火車上，於是就站在車門外的台階、抓著把手，直到聽到有人在浴室附近活動，他拼命的叫喊，才幸運的被發現。不然火車至少還要再開十二小時以上，外面的氣溫又低，如果沒被發現，不知他能撐到何時。到了這時，他已經在火車上待了兩個小時以上。火車服務員認為他的舉動很可笑，既然錯過了班次就不應該如此冒險，而是等下一班車。不過一等就是要等到星期天，行李、護照也在車上，還要再花錢買另一張車票，或許這就是他想不開的原因吧？還好最後的結局是好的。火車服務員說他被凍壞了，之後，我看到好幾個火車服務員拿著不同的熱食到後面的車箱，這一些免費的熱食得來真不易（火車上的食物真的是又貴量又少）。那位人兄就坐在我們這一節車箱，因為全部的人都知道他的事蹟，他也不好意思再回來坐，服務員也幫他把行李拿去給他。
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
火車上的紀念品
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
火車上的紀念品
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
火車上的紀念品
It was a coincidence, after arriving Alice Springs, when I was on the shuttle bus to the backpacker, I heard some people were discussing the accident on the train, one of them was the guy hanging on the train. I even lived in the same room with him. I sent him a decoration with a Mandarin "宅" on it, I told him it means "Home" in English. He was lucky to survive in this terrible accident and have the chance to go back home. He seemed happy and attached it on his necklace. This guy is a university student majoring in Psychology from Alaska. The temperature in his hometown might be low to minus ten or twenty centigrade, maybe this was why he could keep hanging on outside the train for two hours. He also said he usually stays at home during the cold weather.
巧合的是，抵達愛麗絲泉，坐在背包客棧提供的接駁車上，我聽到有人在聊剛剛火車上發生的意外，其中一個人就是當事人。而且他後來和我住同一間。我送給他一個手機吊飾，上面寫個了「宅」字，我告訴他，那個字的意思是「家」，很幸運地，經過這次意外，他還能夠安全的回到家。他很高興地把它在他的項鍊上。這位人兄是美國阿拉斯加人。還在唸大學，主修心理學。他的家鄉冬天溫度可能低到零下十幾、二十度，或許這就是為何他能在火車外撐上二個小時。他也說通常這種氣候都是躲在家裡。
Today I was reading some information about the Ghan in the Wiki, I found this accident was recorded in the Wiki and the date is incorrect with the sixth of June, Saturday. It should be the twenty-seventh of May, Wednesday。The Ghan only departs on Wednesday and Sunday。This accident was reported on UK BBC as well. He even gave the clip to the media that he recorded when he was hanging outside the train by his digital camera.
今天在看Ghan的Wiki時，發現這件事被人寫在Wiki裡，而且日期還寫錯，上面寫六月六號，星期六。應該是五月二十七日，星期三。Ghan火車只有在星期三、日發車。英國BBC也有這篇報導，他將自己掛在火車外面的錄影給了BBC。
Another links：
其它連結：
1. http://www.trulyaustralia.com/rail/ghan.htm
2. http://www.gsr.com.au/index.phphttp://www.gsr.com.au/index.php
3. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,25599450-5014090,00.html?from=public_rss?ref=BPNT
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
沿途上的風景
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
沿途上的風景
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
沿途上的風景
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
沿途上的風景
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
沿途上的風景
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
沿途上的風景
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
沿途上的風景
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
金色或白金服務上的用餐區
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
紅色服務上的用餐區
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
量少又貴的主餐
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
沿途上的風景（日出）
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
沿途上的風景
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
沿途上的風景
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
南澳和北領地交界處
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| From 20090527-0528_Ghan |
乾沽的芬克河
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| From 20090528_AliceSprings |
愛麗絲泉月台
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| From 20090528_AliceSprings |
愛麗絲泉月台
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| From 20090528_AliceSprings |
阿拉斯加來的Chad
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| From 20090528_AliceSprings |
阿拉斯加來的Chad
The view on the way
Tourist Chad Vance clung to Ghan train for two hours
A YOUNG American tourist has survived a terrifying train ride in which he clung to the outside of the legendary Ghan in the freezing dark as it hit speeds up to 110km/h in the South Australian Outback.
Chad Vance, 19, frantically pursued The Ghan after missing it in Port Augusta, managing to climb on and squeeze himself into a tiny stairwell as the train raced for almost 200km through the night.
It was two hours and 20 minutes before a Ghan crew member heard the Alaskan student's desperate cries for help about 20km south of Pimba and brought the train to an emergency halt, the Sunday Mail reports.
"I was worried I wasn't going to survive," Mr Vance said of his ride on Thursday, May 28.
"If I'd fallen off at that speed and hit the nasty-looking rocks below, I don't think I would have made it."
The Ghan crew member Marty Wells turned lifesaver when he heard Mr Vance's frantic calls for help and pulled the train's emergency brake handle, rescuing the tourist from a potentially fatal predicament.
"Chad is a very lucky guy - when we rescued him his skin was white and his lips were blue," said Mr Wells, a technician with The Ghan's operator, Great Southern Railway.
"We were still about three hours away from our next scheduled stop and in that time, he could have easily died of hypothermia or lost his grip and fallen to his death if he hadn't been rescued."
Mr Vance's extraordinary tale of survival began when he boarded The Ghan in Adelaide on Thursday for the journey to Alice Springs.
Like most passengers in the seated carriages, he took an opportunity to stretch his legs during a short stop in the Mid-North town of Port Augusta around 5.30pm.
The university student, from the small hamlet of North Pole, in central Alaska, went for a stroll in town, but after losing track of time arrived back at the platform just as The Ghan was pulling out.
On board was all his luggage and valuables, including his passport and train ticket. Having already travelled by train from Sydney to Adelaide, after arriving in Australia on May 17, Mr Vance said he knew The Ghan would pull up just outside of town to change drivers before continuing its journey.
He decided to chase the train before it came to a rest.
Mr Vance said when he caught up to the stopped train, he started frantically banging on the windows of the first class dining carriage. He said the passengers ignored him because they "probably thought I was some crazy kid" outside.
After five minutes, the train started to slowly pull away again, leaving Mr Vance thinking he would be stuck in Port Augusta with just $10, a digital camera and the shirt on his back.
The young tourist then made an "instinctive" decision - which he admitted in retrospect was a "pretty crazy idea" - and managed to grab hold of the stairwell near the rear of the train and swing himself into a cramped sitting position.
As the night progressed and the train picked up speed, the temperature outside The Ghan plummeted.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology the thermometer dipped to 8.4C at Woomera on the night in question. Clad only in a pair of boots, jeans and a T-shirt, Mr Vance also had to deal with the severe windchill factor, which according to a weather calculator puts the temperature around -7C.
Two hours and 20 minutes after jumping into the stairwell, Mr Vance's desperate calls for help were answered. Mr Wells said that after being brought on board, the exhausted and freezing backpacker collapsed to the floor.
"He was also shaking uncontrollably for several hours and complained of numbness to the left side of his body and arms and said his face was also stinging," Mr Wells said. "I've never seen anything like this before and I sure hope I don't ever see it happen again."
Mr Vance received first aid from the crew - including a cup of soup - and was upgraded to a sleeper cabin for a hot shower and warm night's sleep. His youth and a childhood of cold climate conditioning meant Mr Vance made a speedy recovery.
"I got off the train the next day in Alice Springs and headed out on a tour of Uluru and Kings Canyon," Mr Vance said.
The psychology major student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, left Darwin today for Cairns, for some scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef, before heading back to Sydney and then home on June 17.
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