"The Southern Spirit"

Related to my recent posting about Platinum Service on the Ghan.

Great Southern Railway have recently announced a new train to be known as the "Southern Spirit"

This will operate a series of 8 "rail cruises" from late November '08 to late February '09, using the Platinum Class "Ghan" cars while they are not in use on that train because of the "wet" season. There will also be Gold Class two-berth cabins (no roomettes) a dining car, a general lounge car and a special Platinum class lounge.

Trips are from 8 to 12 nights duration (some of which are spent in five-star hotels) and cost from about $A7,000 to $A14,000.

Typical itineraries are Perth to Sydney via Adelaide, Melbourne and Canberra and Darwin to Brisbane via Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley and Coff's Harbour.

An ambitious programme - will be interesting to see how successful it is.

thanks Peter ,when is the wet season ?

David

There are no official dates for the "wet season" or simply "wet" as it is sometimes called.

Generally it refers to the period from November through March when the coastal areas of northern Australia experience very high rainfalls (and sometimes cyclones) coupled with high temperatures resulting in oppressive, steamroom like humidity. It also coincides with the "stinger" season, when toxic jellyfish make swimming at beaches perilous.

Most knowledgeable Australians avoid far north coastal destinations like Darwin and Cairns for vacations during this period.

Further news on the "Southern Spirit":-

Great Southern Railway have announced that only one of the eight "cruises" will operate.

This is to be a 13 day "Grand Tour" from Brisbane to Darwin via Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide and Alice Springs departing on January 22, 2009.

During the time that the other seven cruises would have operated, some of the rebuilt "Platinum Class" will be operated on the "Indian Pacific" between Sydney and Adelaide, via Broken Hill.

GSR partly blame this on the current world economic jitters but also admit that the lack of bookings may have been partly due to the fact that there was insufficient time between the announcement of the program and it's operation. Final details were only completed in mid-June and patrons of these $1000 per day cruises of up to two weeks duration frequently plan and book up to a year ahead.

GSR are still planning on a program for 2009/10 - at least that's what they say.

Bad news coming on top of the recent failure of Grandluxe.

Thanks Peter . at least its hanging in there in some form .
i wonder how the Bangkok to Singapore luxury train is faring ???

Thanks Peter . at least its hanging in there in some form .
i wonder how the Bangkok to Singapore luxury train is faring ???