SYDNEY -- So you think your one-hour-plus commute into Tokyo each morning is agony! Pity passengers on Australia's newest train trip -- two days and two nights. And paying $12,000 for the privilege.
Actually, the world's latest transcontinental run is an adventure. In fact, more than 11,000 members of a train buffs' group, the Top End Club, rushed to jump aboard the first train departing soon, only to be stopped by sold-out signs. Lots more clamored to join the passenger train service, called The Ghan, to travel 3,000 km from the Great Southern Ocean almost to the Equator.
And not just local train buffs. One-third of passengers booked on the initial run were from overseas. Japanese train lovers are to join the cross-continent experience, viewing from luxury carriages the country's unique wildlife and landscapes at times quite Mars-like in starkness. A "real Australia" adventure, in fact, never to be had simply by taking snaps of Sydney Harbor Bridge.