In October 2014, I shouted myself a trip on The Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin and it was a journey full of wonder, excitement, food, and wonderful people to talk to.

My trip began with a sightseeing tour of Adelaide for two days and came with some interesting facts. Did you know that what was once the city of churches has now become the city of pubs and nightclubs? Most of the churches operate as either restaurants, night clubs or Karaoke bars – with one restriction! Owners can renovate inside in whichever way they need to but the facade must remain in its original condition.

What is ‘war’ a little girl of six years pondered as she sat outside the hedge which surrounded her mother’s garden? The adults talked about what they read in the newspaper and listened intently to the news on the radio. It was late 1939 and I was that six-year-old girl. At first, life on the dairy farm went on as usual. My parents remembered that other War of 1914-1918 and they probably wondered what would happen this time.