Carly's Ramblings Blog - Style

Day 4 - Adelaide and the Ghan

Blogging Circle of Friends - Day 3488 May 4, 2024

Our next adventure has us hoping on The Ghan for one of the world's great train journeys. We get to travel through the heart of Australia in luxury while enjoying the all-inclusive food and beverages, well-appointed cabins and the Off Train Excursions that allow you to get a feel for the places the train travels through. I upgraded to a Gold ticket so I have a cabin all to myself. This is the kind of stuff you can do on a virtual trip. I like the space to be able to go off and write without feeling like I am being anti-social.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g255093-d12951577-Reviews-The_Ghan...

We'll be starting in Adelaide and since the train doesn't leave until noon, I have time for a bit of shopping at the Rundle Mall and the Adelaide Arcade. I make sure to purchase a great hat and more sunscreen for the trip. I expect I'll need them both. I found an inexpensive hiker hat that will do perfectly.

As we settle onto the train, I enjoy my spacious cabin and a glass of wine. I know its early, but I feel like celebrating. I take some time to check out some possible adventures that are available to us as we venture forth.

Lyn's a Witchy Woman listed these:
https://www.pinkroadhouse.com.au/oodnadatta-track/
https://www.australia.com/en-us/places/northern-territory.html
https://alicespringsdesertpark.com.au/
https://www.flyingdoctor.org.au/

One of the things that stands out is the Desert Art Trail. I really enjoy the artwork of indigenous artists in Canada and am curious what the Australian Outback has in store. The colours on the website are more earthy, not as vibrant, but are just as soul enriching. A couple of places intrigue me - The Aruleun Arts Centre and the Mbantua Gallery. The Arts Centre will give a good overview of all the area has to offer and the Mbantua Gallery website has some fabulous artists including Jessie Hunter Petyarre and Joycie Morton Petrarre. Jessie's family paint stories associated with Atnwengerrp and Irrweltye their mother's country. I find her work pops with colour and makes me smile.
https://mbantua.com.au/
https://araluenartscentre.nt.gov.au/art-collections
https://www.australia.com/en-us/places/alice-springs-and-surrounds/day-trips.htm...

Tonight we'll be dining in the Queen Adelaide restaurant. I'll be savouring the mouth-watering dishes such as saltwater barramundi and grilled kangaroo fillet as we travel along our route.
https://www.journeybeyondrail.com.au/guest-information/food-beverage/queen-adela...

BCoF smaller prompt is about Australian literature:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_literature
Scroll through the different sections and discuss things you know about authors and the topic they wrote about.

I really like reading authors and buying books when I visit places. I bought at least a dozen books when I was in Scotland in 2017 (for real). I got a chance to spend a couple hours at the International Book Festival in Edinburgh. It was so fabulous.

But we are virtually traveling in Australia, so....

I just finished The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris. She now lives in Australia, but she is from New Zealand. Does a Kiwi count? The book is based on a true story of Lale Eisenberg who was the tattooist in Auschwitz-B during the Holocaust. He and his wife Gita eventually moved to Australia in 1949. The series for this started May 1 and I wanted to finish the book before watching it. It was very moving.

Thomas Michael Keneally, is an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, and actor. He is best known for his non-fiction novel Schindler's Ark, the story of Oskar Schindler's rescue of Jews during the Holocaust, which won the Booker Prize in 1982. Apparently he was the first Australian to win the Booker Prize. The book would later be adapted into Steven Spielberg's 1993 film Schindler's List, which won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. I did not read or see this movie, but one day I might.

Colleen Margaretta McCullough was an Australian author known for her novels, her most well-known being The Thorn Birds and The Ladies of Missalonghi. I read The Thorn Birds and watched the series with Richard Chamberlain.

Germaine Greer is a liberation (or radical) rather than equality feminist. Her goal is not equality with men, which she sees as assimilation and "agreeing to live the lives of unfree men". "Women's liberation", she wrote in The Whole Woman (1999), "did not see the female's potential in terms of the male's actual." She argues instead that liberation is about asserting difference and "insisting on it as a condition of self-definition and self-determination". It is a struggle for the freedom of women to "define their own values, order their own priorities and decide their own fate". I may just need to read this book. I have put in on my list on Good Reads.