USD 
Written by Stephanie Mikkelsen
Journey Beyond’s Aurora Australis Suites, christened this week aboard The Ghan and Indian Pacific, are the most significant upgrade to Australian luxury rail in years. Two suite categories, a dedicated Platinum lounge, and a set of experiences built specifically around the travellers booking them.
Here’s what you need to know about the brand-new Aurora Australis suites.
1. Your bar is stocked to your taste before you board
The in-room bar is assembled around each guest’s individual preferences ahead of departure – not a standard minibar, but a curated selection based on what you actually drink. Add butler service, private in-suite dining, and Bollinger La Grande Année poured consistently from departure to arrival, and the intention is clear: this is a train where the experience has been thought about as carefully as the design.
2. The helicopter over Katherine Gorge is exclusive to suite guests
Travelling northbound on The Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin, Australis and Aurora Suite guests take a helicopter over all 13 gorges of Nitmiluk National Park, then land for a private champagne moment in the outback. It’s not available to the broader train. For a journey already defined by scale and remoteness, it’s the experience that puts the landscape properly into perspective – and the one detail that makes the suite upgrade feel non-negotiable.
3. The Woolshed dinner has the right people behind it
The new four-day northbound Ghan itinerary features a signature dinner inside a Woolshed – a structure central to Australia’s outback farming heritage and a setting that earns its drama without trying. The dinner is the work of Chef Nicola Palmer and Sommelier Warrick Duthy, the couple behind Clare Valley’s Watervale Hotel, whose approach to food, wine and sustainability has made their restaurant one of South Australia’s most talked-about. On a train already moving through some of the country’s most remote terrain, the Woolshed dinner is the meal that anchors the whole journey to a place.
4. There are two suite tiers
The Australis Suite sits at the top – more space, more privacy. The Aurora Suite offers the same design language and service philosophy at a slightly more accessible entry point. Both have access to the new Platinum lounge, a dedicated space for suite guests.
5. It pairs naturally with the rest of what Journey Beyond does
The Ghan – Adelaide to Darwin, the full length of the continent – remains one of the more spectacular ways to understand Australia’s scale. For those wanting to extend the experience beyond the tracks, Monarto Safari Resort, also part of the Journey Beyond family, offers a wildlife lodge in South Australia’s Murray River country that sits comfortably alongside a rail journey as a before or after. Two very different ways of moving through Australia – both unhurried, both grounded in place.
6. The design was worth the brief
Woods Bagot – the global design firm behind the fitout – were asked to take Art Deco rail heritage and translate it through the lens of the Australian landscape. The materials reference the country the train is crossing; the lines and proportions nod to the golden age of rail travel. It’s a considered brief, and it shows in a carriage that doesn’t feel generic – which, on a journey through some of the most visually distinct terrain on earth, is the baseline you’d hope for.
7. 2026 departures are nearly sold out
Demand has been strong enough that 2026 is almost entirely gone. 2027 dates are now open for booking. If the Aurora Australis Suites are on your radar, the time to book is now.
