The scene must have surprised the passengers of the Ghan, the famous luxury train which crosses Australia from north to south.
On March 12, around a hundred residents of Livingstone, 40 km south of Darwin (Northern Territories), presented their buttocks as the convoy passed shortly after its departure, as shown in a report by local television channel ABC (
see video below
).
A stroke of collective madness?
Rather, respect for a tradition.
Every ten years since 2004, when the line from Alice Springs to Darwin was extended, the residents of Livingstone have engaged in this somewhat unusual ritual.
It all started from a joke from a resident who wanted to greet the inaugural train in his own way.
Since then, other residents of the surrounding area have imitated him and meet every decade.
For this 20th anniversary, residents of the town placed posters encouraging other people to join what they called “
full moon fever
”, the next edition of which will therefore take place in 2034.
The Ghan covers 2979 km in three days and two nights between the tropical humidity of Darwin and the temperate climate of Adelaide.
A four-hour stop is planned in Alice Springs, in the heart of Australia's Red Centre, but for those who would like to stay longer, it is possible to split the journey into two parts.
Between April and October, the journey called The Ghan Expedition lasts an extra day and night to allow a visit to Coober Pedy, a village renowned for its opal production where half of the inhabitants live underground.
To take your place, count on at least €2000.
Read the fileTravel to Australia: our tailor-made tours, hotels and stays