For years, I have hated flying (ironic considering how much I love travel!) – so my favourite mode of transport wherever possible, is the train.  While living in the US in 2013, I traveled coast-to-coast on the Amtrak.  When I returned from London in 2009, I took the train from London to Beijing (connections, then the Trans-Mongolian).

When I researched other amazing train journeys, the first answer was the cross-country train in Australia that runs North from Adelaide – known as The Ghan.

Immediately, I knew I wanted to ride that train!

When trying to plan this around the world trip, I was trying to find the perfect time to start … It got me thinking that every year, my mother and I go to the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix in Melbourne, Australia (we are both obsessed with F1 racing!).  So my thought was that this sounded like a great time and place to start!

The Melbourne Grand Prix is scheduled for March 17-20 2016.   I will attend the GP with my mum on these dates, and then drive to Adelaide to catch The Ghan train.

So there we have it, a New Zealand departure date: Wednesday, 16 March 2016!