We speak with chef Mark Best on the new, flavour-forward rail adventure from Tasting Australia.
From announcing its ultra-luxe new Australis and Aurora Suites to the addition of a new Flinders Ranges stop for 2027, there’s been a lot of talk around The Ghan recently. Now, the legendary train is gearing up for an exclusive new journey spotlighting culinary talent and ancient desert landscapes.
Part of the 2026 program of Tasting Australia – an esteemed annual festival celebrating South Australia and its people through flavour – the all-new Tasting Australia by Train: The Ghan Edition is a four-day culinary rail adventure between Darwin and Adelaide. Guests can expect fine wines and bespoke menus curated by an impressive line-up of culinary talent, including Michelin-starred Spanish chef Nieves Barragán Mohacho alongside Australian legends Mark Best, Jo Barrett and Shannon Fleming.
Discover the stories of the route’s diverse landscapes.
The exclusive itinerary from 6 to 9 May includes accommodation in a Gold Twin Cabin aboard The Ghan, with culinary and cultural moments thoughtfully woven between encounters with some of Australia’s most striking natural scenery, from Katherine and Alice Springs to the otherworldly landscapes of Coober Pedy. Guests will also have plenty of opportunity to engage meaningfully with the chefs.
South Australia-born, Mark Best says he is excited to be revisiting the region on such an iconic voyage. “It’s quite sparse, and you’re really dissecting the middle of Australia, right through past Lake Eyre and some of the most arid and beautiful landscapes in the world. But you have complete comfort."
Mark Best on the dining
Expect exquisite dining on Tasting Australia by Train: The Ghan Edition.
As far as what guests can expect on the culinary front, Best says he will be heroing local South Australian produce, hinting that kangaroo may appear on the menu. He also hopes to create a dish inspired by Adelaide’s iconic ‘pie floater’ (a pie sitting atop mushy peas).
“It’s fairly early days in terms of menu, but I’ll be using produce from Little Tin Co," Best says. “They have super high-quality tinned fish out of Port Lincoln and that area of South Australia – sardines, tuna, all locally tinned with local olive oil. And it’s absolutely fabulous." This produce will feature in one of the snacks: a ‘fish and chips’ using crispy Kettle chips. “It’s just a simple little thing we can do in the confines of the galley, leaving us room to do much more elaborate things."
Best anticipates the informal lunch at Simpsons Gap to be a highlight. Alongside chef Nieves, he plans to cook a kangaroo tail stew and damper in camp ovens followed by the likes of billy tea and quandong crumble. The food will reflect the amalgam of cultural stories that underpin Simpsons Gap, as well as The Ghan – which is named after the Afghan families that forged the route from Adelaide to Darwin. “We’re really trying to tell some of that story through the food," explains Best.
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The itinerary
The Ghan traverses cinematic landscapes.
Day one starts off with a bang. Guests will depart Darwin Berrimah Station and settle into their luxe new home aboard The Ghan, before discovering Bollinger’s most memorable vintage Champagnes during a private tasting and masterclass. A curated lunch onboard in the Queen Adelaide Restaurant will follow, along with an off-train stop in Katherine. Learn about the astounding cultural significance of the area as you cruise through a maze of ancient sandstone towers at Nitmiluk Gorge.
Day two enchants the senses in new ways. Journey into the beating heart of Central Australia and discover rich Indigenous lore at Simpsons Gap while marvelling at mulga woodlands believed to be the home of giant goanna ancestors. Here, you’ll enjoy a low-key lunch prepared by chefs Mark Best and Nieves Barragán Mohacho in a unique setting. Come evening, gaze up at wide-open starry skies during a memorable dinner at historic Alice Springs Telegraph Station.
Discover the ethereal beauty of Simpsons Gap.
Witness rust-red desert landscapes.
Enjoy dinner at Alice Springs Telegraph Station.
Day three unfolds with a stop in the outback town of Coober Pedy, the opal capital of the world. Here, many residents live underground in dugout homes to escape the harsh heat. Walk among undulating red contours of Kanku-Breakaways Conservation Park and savour lunch prepared by chefs Jo Barrett and Shannon Fleming while overlooking a brilliant desert panorama. Then immerse yourself in community art and history at the Umoona Arts Centre and Old Timers Mine. Back onboard, Mark Best will whip up exceptional fare for a final black-tie evening infused with old-school Agatha Christie glamour.
The following morning, guests will pass through the spellbinding rocky landscapes of the Flinders Ranges en route to Adelaide, where they will disembark – no doubt filled with a sense of awe that will linger long after stepping off the train.
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The details
Fine wines come standard aboard The Ghan.
Event: Tasting Australia by Train: The Ghan Edition
Inclusions: All-inclusive meals, fine wines, beverages, off-train experiences and a stay in a Gold Twin Cabin for the duration of the journey.
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Eleanor Edström is Australian Traveller’s Associate Editor. Previously a staff writer at Signature Luxury Travel & Style and Vacations & Travel magazines, she's a curious wordsmith with a penchant for conservation, adventure, the arts and design. She discovered her knack for storytelling much earlier, however – penning mermaid sagas in glitter ink at age seven. Proof that her spelling has since improved, she holds an honours degree in English and philosophy, and a French diploma from the University of Sydney. Off duty, you’ll find her pirouetting between Pilates and ballet classes, or hunting down Sydney's cosiest cafes.
Abandoned mills and forgotten paper plants are finding second lives – and helping redefine a city long underestimated.
Just 15 years ago, Federal Mills was a very different place. Once among the most significant industrial sites in Victoria, the historic woollen mill was one of a dozen that operated in Geelong at the industry’s peak in the mid-20th century, helping the city earn its title as ‘wool centre of the world’. But by the 1960s global competition and the rise of synthetic fabrics led to the slow decline of the industry, and Federal Mills finally shuttered its doors in 2001. Within a few years, the abandoned North Geelong grounds had become makeshift pastoral land, with cows and goats grazing among the overgrown grass between the empty red-brick warehouses. It was a forgotten pocket of the city, all but two klicks from the bustle of the CBD.
Geelong has shed its industrial identity to become an innovative urban hub with reimagined heritage spaces. (Image: Ash Hughes)
Federal Mills: from forgotten factory to creative precinct
Today, the century-old complex stands reborn. The distinctive sawtooth-roof buildings have been sensitively restored. An old silo is splashed with a bright floral mural, landscapers have transformed the grounds, and the precinct is once again alive with activity. More than 1000 people work across 50-plus businesses here. It’s so busy, in fact, that on a sunny Thursday morning in the thick of winter, it’s hard to find a car park. The high ceilings, open-plan design, and large multi-paned windows – revolutionary features for factories of their time – have again become a drawcard.
Paddock Bakery and Patisserie is housed within the historic wool factory. (Image: Gallant Lee)
At Paddock, one of the precinct’s newer tenants, weaving looms and dye vats have been replaced by a wood-fired brick oven and heavy-duty mixers. Open since April 2024, the bakery looks right at home here; the building’s industrial shell is softened by ivy climbing its steel frames, and sunlight streams through the tall windows. Outside, among the white cedar trees, families at picnic benches linger over dippy eggs and bagels, while white-collar workers pass in and out, single-origin coffee and crème brûlée doughnuts in hand.
Geelong: Australia’s only UNESCO City of Design
Paddock Bakery can be found at Federal Mills. (Image: Gallant Lee)
“A lot of people are now seeing the merit of investing in Geelong,” says Paul Traynor, the head of Hamilton Hospitality Group, which redeveloped Federal Mills. A city once shunned as Sleepy Hollow, and spurned for its industrial, working-class roots and ‘rust belt’ image, Geelong has long since reclaimed its ‘Pivot City’ title, having reinvented itself as an affordable, lifestyle-driven satellite city, and a post-COVID migration hotspot.
And the numbers stand testament to the change. In March 2025, and for the first time in its history, Greater Geelong became Australia’s most popular regional town for internal migration, overtaking Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Current forecasts suggest Geelong will continue to outpace many other Australian cities and towns, with jobs growing at double the rate of the population.
Tourism is booming, too. The 2023-24 financial year was Geelong and The Bellarine region’s busiest on record, with 6.4 million visitors making it one of the fastest-growing destinations in the country. It’s not hard to see why: beyond the city’s prime positioning at the doorstep of the Great Ocean Road, Geelong’s tenacity and cultural ambition stands out.
As Australia’s only UNESCO City of Design, Geelong is swiftly shaking off its industrial past to become a model for urban renewal, innovation, sustainability and creative communities. The signs are everywhere, from the revitalisation of the city’s waterfront, and the landmark design of the Geelong Library and Heritage Centre and Geelong Arts Centre, to the growing network of local designers, architects and artists, and the burgeoning roster of festivals and events. That’s not even mentioning the adaptive reuse of storied old industrial buildings – from Federal Mills, to Little Creatures’ brewery ‘village’ housed within a 1920s textile mill – or the city’s flourishing food and wine scene.
The rise of a food and wine destination
Restaurant 1915 is housed within a restored former boiler house. (Image: Harry Pope/Two Palms)
Traynor credits now-closed local restaurant Igni, which opened in 2016, as the turning point for Geelong’s hospo industry. “[Aaron Turner, Igni’s chef-patron] was probably the first guy, with all due respect, to raise the bar food-wise for Geelong,” he says. “People now treat it really seriously, and there’s clearly a market for it.” While Igni is gone, Turner now helms a string of other notable Geelong venues, including The Hot Chicken Project and Tacos y Liquor, all within the buzzy, street art-speckled laneways of the CBD’s Little Malop Street Precinct. Many others have also popped up in Igni’s wake, including Federal Mills’ own restaurant, 1915. Housed within the cavernous boiler house, 1915’s interior is dramatic: soaring, vaulted ceilings with timber beams, exposed brick, a huge arched window. The share plates echo the space’s bold character, playing with contrast and texture, with dishes such as a compressed watermelon tataki, the sweet, juicy squares tempered by salty strands of fried leeks, and charred, smoky snow peas dusted with saganaki on a nutty bed of romesco.
The Woolstore is a new restaurant and bar housed within a century-old warehouse. (Image: Amy Carlon)
The Woolstore, one of The Hamilton Group’s most recent hospo projects, opened in February. It occupies a century-old riverside warehouse and exudes a more sultry, fine dining ambience. Much like Federal Mills, the blueprint was to preserve the original brickwork, tallowwood flooring and nods to the building’s former life. That same careful consideration extends to the well-versed, affable waitstaff as well as the kitchen. Head chef Eli Grubb is turning out an eclectic mix of ambitious and indulgent mod Oz dishes that deliver: strikingly tender skewers of chicken tsukune, infused with hints of smoke from the parrilla grill, and glazed with a moreish, sweet gochujang ‘jam’; nduja arancini fragrant with hints of aniseed and the earthy lick of sunny saffron aioli; and golden squares of potato pavé, adorned with tiny turrets of crème fraîche, crisp-fried saltbush leaves, and Avruga caviar, to name but a few stand-out dishes.
Woolstore’s menu is designed for sharing.
Breathing new life into historic spaces
On the city’s fringe, hidden down a winding side road with little fanfare, lies a long-dormant site that’s being gently revived. Built from locally quarried bluestone and brick, and dating back to the 1870s, the complex of original tin-roofed mill buildings is lush with greenery and backs onto the Barwon River and Buckley Falls; the audible rush of water provides a soothing soundtrack. Fyansford Paper Mill is one of few complexes of its time to survive intact. It feels steeped in history and spellbindingly rustic.
“We were looking for an old industrial place that had some charm and romance to it,” explains Sam Vogel, the owner, director and winemaker at Provenance Wines which moved here in 2018. When he first viewed the building with his former co-owner, it was in such a state of disrepair that the tradie tenant occupying the space had built a shed within it to escape the leaking roof and freezing winter temperatures. “To say it was run down would be an understatement,” he notes. “There was ivy growing through the place; the windows were all smashed. It was a classic Grand Designs project.”
Provenance Wines moved to Fyansford Paper Mill in 2018. (Image: Cameron Murray Photography)
The team has since invested more than a million dollars into their new home. Where paper processing machinery once sat, wine barrels are now stacked. Vaulted cathedral ceilings are strung with festoon lights, and hidden in plain sight lies a shadowy mural by local street artist de rigueur Rone – one of only three permanent works by the artist.
While the award-winning, cool-climate pinot noir, riesling and chardonnay naturally remain a key draw at Provenance, the winery’s restaurant is a destination in itself. Impressed already by whipsmart service, I devour one of the most cleverly curated and faultlessly executed degustations I’ve had in some time. It’s all prepared in a kitchen that is proudly zero-waste, and committed to providing seasonal, ethical and locally sourced meat and produce under head chef Nate McIver. Think free-range venison served rare with a syrupy red wine jus and a half-moon of neon-orange kosho, shokupan with a deeply savoury duck fat jus (a modern Japanese take on bread and drippings), and a golden potato cake adorned with a colourful confetti of dehydrated nasturtiums and tomato powder, and planted atop a sea urchin emulsion.
Bell’s handcrafted functional pieces on display.
The complex is home to a coterie of independent businesses, including a gallery, a jeweller, and its latest tenant, ceramicist Elizabeth Bell, drawn here by the building’s “soul”. “There’s so much potential for these buildings to have new life breathed into them,” says Bell, whose studio is housed within the old pump room. “Even people in Geelong don’t know we’re here,” she says. “It’s definitely a destination, but I like that. It has a really calming atmosphere.”
A Melbourne transplant, Bell now feels at home in Geelong, which offers something Melbourne didn’t. “If this business was in Melbourne I don’t think it would’ve been as successful,” she notes. “It’s very collaborative in Geelong, and I don’t think you get that as much in Melbourne; you’re a bit more in it for yourself. Here it’s about community over competition.”
Ceramicist Elizabeth Bell has a store in Fyansford Paper Mill.
