A Trip Home.

Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle, Volume XX, Issue 1026, 14 April 1925, Page 1

A Trip Home.

By li. F. » A writer has said Australia aw Xew Zealand are, of course, differen lands m some ways. Australia, witl its wide, rolling downs and gie", yellow plains, with its dust ant drought and dazzling blue skies, wide almost measureless, landscape and vast I table-land—very different to thi narrow sea-girt islands of New Zea J laud, with their deep bays and steejL I ( peninsulas, great lakes and foaming L rivers, snow-capped mountains and t steaming volcanoes. Sydney was reached again en ruiitu to the Old Country, and a little time spent iv looking round ere the boat steamed out of the well-known harbour en route to the other side of tlie wi.ild. It has been well said that au agreeable companion on a journey is as good as a carriage, and this "old saying is as true to-day as when supposed to be uttered by Publiu*, Syrus m 42 B.C. Travelling m company the pleasure is multiplied. The experience of each adds greatly to\he eujoymeut of all, and whereas the lonely traveller might overlook soine features of interest, there is not much escapes the combined observation of a number. When travelling one is wont to meet good, bad and indifferent' samples of humanity, and now and again, "queer fish." One or two of the latter travelled on the boat fiom the N.S.W. port to Melbourne. They said they were going home, which later proved false. To enter into a gambling game, if possible, with such of the passengers fool enough to participate was .their aim, to ilee_e their unsuspecting fellows seemed their object. Tbey could " spin the tale." Several passengers lost money at the games these gentry enticed them into playing. When Melbourne was reached the hand of a detective waa placed upon the shoulder of one of them and he was taken along to the station. Nextday m the newspapers it was seen that this gent was a noted Aus, tialian " sharper," aud he was. prompt ly told to leave the Victorian state, j His associates had made themselver scarce* None pf this clique had iv* tended the long Voyage Home, but just along the coast to plunder, if possibie, and impose upon the credulity of those silly enough to engage m their devices. Melbourne is a well-planned city, and so much has been written about it that we will not further digress m that direction. After a short sojourn iv the Victorian capital the voyage was resumed, and tracks ma.de for South Australia. When tho chief seaport of the latter State was reached we went ashore, aud a few mile-* journey iv the railway train took us to Adelaide. The South Australian city, as a rule, receives the favourable comment of visitors. The belt of wellwooded park-land and well appointed streets generally attract tbe notice ut the new-comer. The Town Hall, Museum, Art Gallery, Zoological Gardens, etc., filled m much of the time ashore. Voyaging across the Australian Bight the sea , was fairly rough at times, and the majoiity of the passengers wont down with nialdu mer. Freeman tie, West Australia, was the final Australian port, and the tossings of the last few hours weie forgotteu by the passengers iv the stunt ashore. Perth, the chief city of AVest Australia, was but a few miles away by train, aud we wended our way thither. It is a fair-sized city, although the smallest m size of the Australian State capitals. West Australia is a large State, and there is plenty of room for immigrants, as iv other parts of the Commonwealth. The group settlement plan is being tried m the State, with some measure of success, it is believed. People who come from the Old Country miss much they were accustomed to, and the lonely life m places on the great island continent is one not likely to appeal to many. Hence the idea to work m groups, aud it has undoubted advantages. In one of the Australian' States the writer met some of the boys brought out under what is called the Dreaduoughtscheme. Themajority are" said tb be shaping well, and will turn out useful members of the Commonwealth. Immigration proceeds apace m Australia, but the land can ac Comtriodato a great many more people yet.' A " number of " new chums " were me_, and some had prepared '• to pitch their .tents" and settle down. A few still hankered after the lands and scenes they had left, aud yet j again a small minority might, with j some peace to their minds, have stayed at Home. It is apparent re- i garding immigration that the Common- j wealth and British departments concerned are making more intelligent I efforts iv that direction than heretofore, although some advance is yet to be made.

Tt is of some interest to notice the dilterent types of farewell when a liner is getting under weigh. There may be a tall young man who has tied hishaud* d kerchief to the end of a lady's sunit shade, and who waves his sigual, like h the "White Plume of Navarre," high y above the heads of others gathered J about: a resolute old dame who flaps' j, her handkerchief as if she was shaking ,t dust out of a duster ; the young lady o m her teens who gently agitates her l- dainty cambric, and suggests the odour p of patchouli, that must be diseorm-'d g by those around ; then the man who is, J perhaps, au athlete, whose arm works like a semaphore, who raises his hal j at calculated intervals, and smiles a ts measured birdie j somebody is saying t farewell to a neaiand dear relative ami . tries to conc'-al somo distress at part- • ing and furtively wipes away a tear • i a school buy swarms a post or climbs a * derrick, "cooees" -it the top of his [ bent t.util the boat is out of earshot . These and the rest of the genus, could , be observed at the ports of call. (To be Continued).