The dark haired soldier stood on the deck of HMAT Ulysses as it steamed into the harbour at Fremantle in Western Australia, on the afternoon of 7 March 1916. He had travelled further around the continent than he had expected after he had emigrated from Scotland four years before. Robert Hood was born in Saltcoats in Ayrshire, Scotland in 1887. It was a small coastal village, just north east of Ireland, near the Isle of Arran. His parents had both died, and he had left brothers and sisters at home to try out the prospects in Australia.

My first trip on the Ghan was a long needed holiday, and as a guest of Great Southern Railways I was invited to travel on the Indian Pacific from Sydney to Perth. In the space of two months, I travelled the length and breadth of Australia but you can easily do it in a week or two should you choose to travel by train.