MOTORING

Evening Star, Issue 17365, 29 May 1920, Page 11

MOTORING

[By Cabbuebttor.] Brief accounts of holiday trips, roads, and paces of interest are invittd for this column. MOTORING m 'AUSTRALIA. Mr A. L. Fogo sends along another portion of his "diary" of Australian experiences. Andy writes:— In the State of New South. Wales motorcars seem to bo more in evidence, especially in the country districts, than in* any of the other Australian States. The registrations in New South Wales are thousands ahead of • tjiose in Victoria. American cars are everywhere in evidence, and they seem to be up to their work. Cars have displaced the old-time coach, and horses, and somo of the journeys regularly undertaken, day after dav, are of great length. The prices are also very reasonable, considering the costs of fuel and repairs, etc. * Competition has a lot to do with these comparatively cheap fares. There is some magnificent "scenery to be seen in various parts of New South Wales, and many towns of betwaui 4,000 and 7,000_ inhabitants are met with. Motoring in "Victoria, a New Zealander will at once be struck, when passing over level railway crossings, with the wide gauge of the railway. The Victorian gaugo_ is sft 3in (half as wide again as the New Zealand gauge). Crossing into Now South Wales there does not seem much difference in the gauges, but that of New South Wales is smaller than Victoria, being the "standard" of 4ft 3£in. Albury, the first town oyer the border, is gradually growing a big placs, and is now quite an important grape-growing centre. This is the place where passengers have to change trains owing to the different railway gauges. The road usually taken by motors from Melbourne to Sydney is not bad taking it on the whole. 'There are some parts pretty "rocky" and "potty." but given fine weather, the trip of nearly 600 miles is rather fine. Forty miles from Albury is Culeairn, the centre of a very large wheat-growing area, roads mostly "dirt" ones. The fine town of Wagga. Wagga, the capital of the far-famed Riverina district, is the next place. Many fine private residences are to be seen in the suburbs, and the town has the look of a busy and a prosperous place. Large quantities of wool are sent away from here. There is a fine scenic road through to Gundagai, which goes through the bush most of the way. The surface of this road is clay, and as it rained coming back we had some "thrills." This particular road is not the main one, and is not much used; but for a scenic trip it is great. From Wagga Wagga we went out to Yanco. This place is the one served with water from the Burrenjuck Dam, nearly 200 miles away. Distances of 200 or 300 miles are nothing in Australia, This j irrigation settlement . of Yanco, when it ] gets properly going, will be some place. Some oi the settlers seem afraid that there will not be enough markets for all their produce and fruits when |heir farms get full going. It is certainly a revelation to see what the land around Yanco can j produce, when served with water, and it is asserted that in a few years Yanco will be the home of a large fruit-canning industry. From present appearances it looks like it. The road goes through Coota-! mundra, Harden,- Yass, and on to Goulburn—the largest inland town in New South Wales; population about 12,000. j It is a fine looking town with good shops and buildings, and is an important railway centre. At tho time the writer was in ; Goulburn the largest amount of stacked ! wheat in any one place in New South Wales was here. This stacked wheat was piled up about 20 ljagp high, and the j stacks covered acres and acres of ground, i Many of the stacks had collapsed in the centres owing to the ravages of mice, etc., and this means that the wheat has to be recleaned and afterwards rebagged. It is easily seen what it means, after a good harvest, to find storage for the wheat if the latter cannot be shipped away. At, Port Pirie, South Australia, the" writer* saw several weevil-and-mice-attacked stacks of wheat opened out, and the " mess " in the centre of the stack, which was once hard wheat, has to be seen in order to be_ understood what immense losses the mice plagues were responsible for. To Sydney- (about 140 miles) the road is fairly good, and there are some stiff climbs and descents between Mittagong and Picton. When approaching Sydney the roads on the outskirts of the city are pretty bad in places. Sydney motorists are always complaining "about the state of their roads, and as ruts and potholes are always very much in evidence this cannot be wondered at. There are many fine motor trips to be obtained around Sydney, and the following is about the best:—Sydney to Moss Vale via Bulli, Wilton, Cataract, and Picton. At Cataract is situated Sydney's chief water supply, which is well worth a visit. Leaving Moss Vale and going towards the sea coast on good road the Fitzroy Falls are passed. These falls are well worth seeing, as the water falls in the "feathery" style and drops into a gorge filled with ferns and dense vegetation. Now conies a very steep descent of four miles into Kanfaroo Valley. The road is through dense ush and turns and twists in all directions. A short distance farther on and the a3cent of Cambewarra starts. It is a long steep climb to the summit, and when there a magnificent view opens out. lifce town of Nowera is five miles ahead, and is about 100 miles from Sydney. Leaving Nowera the coast road is taken through Kiama., Dapto, Wollongong, and Bulli. A short run may be taken to Port Kembla, where coal is loaded on to steamers in double quick time. The coal is conveyed on belts, and Kenujla is km eking spots out of Newcastle for cheapness of loading and quick despatch. From Sublime Point, above the Bulli Pass, given a fine day, one of the very finest views in Australasia can be obtained. From the top of the cliffs one looks down over 2,000 ft into the bush, and the country and the sea coast are stretched out into view for about 60 miles. This view from Sublime Point is exceptionally good. Continuing _ along the coast road many ooal mines are passed, and at the top of Stanwell Park another fine view is obtained. The roads are pretty bumpy, and bear evidence of being left to look after themselves. Later on, after going through part of the National Park, the Carrington, drive is entered. Motors can go only one ] way through this drive, as the road is very narrow. The drive through on a fine day is absolutely out on its own. Tho road is through bush all the way, and is about 12 miles • long. New Zeaianders j while in Sydney should on no account miss this motor drivo. The tall trees on ! both side? of the road are, to the writer's way of thinking, very like those on the road through South Westlaud, with the : difference that those in' Australia are of the gum variety. Some of the best roads to motor on in New-; South Wales are a long way west of the Blue Mountains. The road up to Mount Victoria is well known to most New Zeaianders who visit Sydney, but many do not go past here, as their destination is generally the Jenolan Caves. The descent from the Blue Mountains through Hartley and Bowenfels on to Lifhgow is ; by a fine scenic road, which turns and j twists .through the bush. • Lithgow is a manufacturing town with coal mines, blast furnaces, iron rolling mills, and other industries. Bathurst (148 miles from Sydney) is beautifully situated, • and can be seen miles away before one comes to it. As we get farther out west the country becomes more undulating and tfee roads are much better for motoring over. Manv of the roads are through the bush, which is pretty open in t parts, as there is not much undergrowth. Around Orange, Wellington, Dubbo Parkes, Grenfell, Cowrfe, Young, etc.,—all fairly large towns—the roads are goodf and in some parts, for miles, they are easily equal to the Palm-erston-Dunback road for surf ace and order. These towns are at good distances from each other, and the surrounding country grows great quantities of wheat. Hundreds of miles can be covered on a motor tour, and the same roads need not be gone over twice. Continuing north we go through Tamworth, Armidale, Glen limes, etc. At the time the writer was through this large stretch of country tho drought was on and tho country was absolutely devoid of any signs of vegetation. For scores of niiles the eoij was

be seen, no it was clear that this drought was an " old man " one. The farther north, we went the worse was the country. We' turned towards the coast of the Northern Rivers and entered again the hilly bush country, and the nearer the coast the better the vegetation, as rain had been more in evidence hero than out farther back. This part of New South Wales is watered by some large river?, which have bars at their mouths. Training walls have betn constructed so as to confine the scour of the currents, but so far. these rivers are navigable for only shallow draught steamers, etc., The Clarence is a very large river, and at Grafton nearly SO miles from its mouth, it ?s nearly half-a-mile wide. It is tidal for all this distance. Large areas of sugarcane are growing along the banks of the Clarence, and the main roads run alongside these sugar farms. Many of the farmers are giving up sugar-cane growing and going in for dairyinsr. The" farmers say that dairying pays best. There is a large sugar mill at Harwood Island, which was in operation crushing cane when we were there. To show the extent, of the severe drought, even on the sea. coast, it was estimated that Harwood would crush only about 18,000 tons of cane as against an average season crushing' of 45,000 tons. The low yield was on account of the drought. We were shown some fine millet crops on the Clarence (millet is what the ordinary houseis made of). The price is on the high side at present, so the* grower? are naturally jubilant. Grafton ""is ananother fine town, and servos an immense area of country, which is devoted to farming. Still going north we conic to the Richmond River country and the Byron Bay districts. These parts of northern New South Wales are great butter producers. Around the town of Lismore, on the Richmond River, land is at a very high price, and for miles in every direction "the cow" is king. Between Lismore and Byron Bay the surface of the land is a beautiful green, as the rainfall is pretty consistent. It is questionable if Taranaki's best dairying land equal!?. much of the land devoted to dairying around Byron Bay. The latter has a'fine growing climate. Immense quantities of butter are made and sent south to Sydney. This part of New South Wales' is certainly well worth visiting if only lo see what it can produce. The roads are good and there is plenty of semi-tropicil scenery. There is a fine motor run to Murwillumbah and down the Tweed River to the Tweed Heads. Along thy banks of the Tweed great quantities of bananas and sugar-cane are grown. There is also a large sugar mill in operation here.—To be concluded. IGNORED OR FORGOTTEN? The City Council dealt out invitations for the Prince's visit with a lavish hand. but one body that might have been remembered at such a time cot none. During the whole of the war period and even at present the patriotic work of th» Otago Motor Club has been a challenge and an inspiration to other organisations, both sporting and public. Even last week members were giving their services and their* cars to en:ible" soldier patients to see the Prince, vet as a club they were ignored or forgotten when it came to a little honor. Kissing is not the onlv thjng that goes by favor in Dunedin. • TESTING MOTOR CARS. New methods for testing automobiles, which are a direct development of war experience, have been introduced into the United States this .season. Realising tlvit the. modern motor car must successfully meet the most extreme riding conditions, one American automobile manufacturer planned and carried out the idea- of subjecting the new light-weight car the company have been developing for two years, and which, it Is understood, will' soon be on the market, to tests which would parallel the rough and ready use motor cars in the. war zone daily received. For these tests unusual "breaking machines" have been rigged up and used in the factory, and the- cars have been sent into

rough, untravelled country for mso grueJling road performance. In the preliminary tests the now car showed stamina and riding qualities so remarkable that the car was selected as the- official scout car m the first Trans-America test trip of the United States Motor Transport Corps, which started on the Atlantic seaboard at Washington, D.C., and completed its tremendously long journey of over 3,000 miles at _ San Francisco, on the Pacific Coast. This Trans-America trip was undertaken to sfcablish and demonstrate the possibilities of the motor vehicle as a factor in coast-to-ooast transportation. It served as a supreme test of the utility and dependability of the modern motor vehicle. One of the most, unsatisfactory details of modern cars is the unders'hielding. There are few examples of reallv efficient undershields which can be readily taken down without a great deal of trouble and discomtort. Struggling with an undershield is about the most temper-provok-ing job about a car. The fitting of easily screwed up or unscrewed clamps which will hold the shield firm and free from rattle'seems to be more of a problem than one would at first sight expect it to be. _ The fittings, being exposed to wet and dirt, soon get rusty, and it is quite usual to find screws' or nuts which have permanently rusted on, to their bolt? or studs. The spring clips which are R£!ir,eiimos fitted soon get loose. The [springs, through reduction of the metal bv rust, fjet weak and elongated, and the shield nangs down and rattles and admits dirt and wet. Often the springs break and lot the whole shield down on to" the road with a terrifying noise. A driver has even been known to come home without any undcrshield and without knowing that he had lost it. If an undershield could be made of cast aluminium and could be pushed along in a slide, each side of the frame underneath it would be easily detached in use. One bolt'and nut in front could hold it, and the job could be done without having to crawi under the car. It seems a point to which designers might give some attention. Mr A. P. Warner of speedometer fame and also the inventor of the Warner-Lenz light-dimming apparatus, has invented a tourist trailer for motor cars. The trailer is of the two-wheeled type, and is attached to the rear of cars. The trailer is equipped with a 7ft x 14ft folding tent, two 4 x 6 seperato folding double beds, w:ih mntire.-ses. Each sleeping compartment is curtained off. There" is also a folding table, a folding lamp grid, and plenty of room in the trailer body for trucks, suit cases, camping paraphernalia, etc. I understand that the trailer will bo procurable from several local garages before long.