"THE ANTIPODES."

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18896, 11 January 1927, Page 15

" T HE ANTIPODES."

NZ AND AUSTRALIA. IMPRESSIONS. business man. Mi' F. C. £' '* Tacorubn.. MaWngton, Jfi' recently toured -New Zealand ~,„e" on liis rcurn, he sajtl: - *fii assumed that nearly everyone • Liliar »-ith the general locatum "i«* hhtory of M-o far land, I» k..0»-.. to u* u s the Anti!S» but relatively l.ulc ,een>6 to be J"SJ. ;,, Australia and -New ZeaS d td "he island of the S Seas adjacent thereto. fint on the southward journey to *S \ntipodcs proper comes New ZenJ nd the Island Uomimo.., « the JJtnsofthat fair arclupe.a.o l.kc their home land-ami a ulrrr does not, lie anyu here upon the Sec of the globe. Well might we «f»bhrase the age-old colloquial term „«lid' to England, in calling these S flight Little, Tight Little hh,. ilttndfoff nearly north and south m Sneral direction for some 1300 miles, fu North and South Islands classify Jjnatically from semi-tropic to fairly temperate zone. The citrus fruits. fljnges-'and the like, grow rendily in itp northern counties, while the eah- ■ iu« palm, hardiest, of its species, n >es even down (o Invercargill. jatbernmost c-ily in the world.

Hail Australia. '|nd then, a further journey of about jjJOmiles—tlireo or four days' steamjfcwe reach our ultimate sailing pjfUt.one of the fine harbours on the ad Australian coast. Generally speaking the south-western reaches of the Pacific justify its name, and the trip wuth from. Honolulu to Auckland is apt to bo fairly tranquil. Hut the Tasman Sea, the crossing of which conutitutes the lest leg of the faring, has • reputation for kicking up had water. However, by the time we have become accustomed to life on board: and it is not so bad as painted. Assuming the usual course of travel, no ■fairer.or .more revealing picture is to be found anywhere than the approach and entrance into Sydney harbour. . This premier city of the Commonwealth, with more than a million population, stands with its feet planted literally on; solid reck, and its harbour unobstructed by reef or bars, and entered by a deep though narrow channel between the "heads," could hold all the navies.and is referred to proudly as. one of the wonders of the world. This,' then,' is Australia, least understood'of < all the .English dominions, at least,so far as we in America are concerned. , Almost exactly as large as the continental United States, and bordering the extreme-south-west Pacific (lcean,.it'is a land to" conjure with, embodying a potential future vaster than Wp have yet be<iun to comprehend.. ■ Tjie fen.irr is .essentially, rich. and the terrain "gently rolling, -with some low toountjnm. ranges attaining -an extreme aititudo of ,60,00 fcct, v but of no great W(Ve'.'for.'•'the conservation of moisture .fdratfa'generation of water power. Tt tw a/so great mineral wealth in about irtftything except 'natural "oil, which lis not yet been' fourid in commercial Quantities. Tho basic industries so far »ra>the production of-.meat—sheep and ./rattler-woo), as much .grain as can be innrkctedy .mining-of many ; |ictafij;;jiricluding , go.ld ( a developing 'leale of manufacture,.and, of 'course, jthe inaritimb pursuits. The developand horticulture ' only by homo ,: ebnadn'ptiou and the. ro'motouess from '^brjfl'markets —conditions'which the future is bound to mend and eventually overcome. :,>'/Virile, Wide-Awtke People. .-■; As;a people, the Australians aro a Virile, wide-awake, generally industri- : ousj tfcon'gh withal friendly, happy, and fun-loving race—distinctive naturally from either tho original English stock -or v thß.t sister nations of tho Empire; straight-forward and independent, but likable in marked degree; welcoming .assimilable comers to their boasted •''MFhite Australia;" and ready to extontfTa' helping hand to all: who maniUi(- tho desiro to:, join and tho will' to d 0,,., 'So; far. away? 'Tis true, some 7000 miles,of the world's greatest ocean lies between us; I but, -after all, what does distance matter nowadays 1 ! Get on a comfortable passenger liner, forget the it'st of"tho world and its' worries"; get acquainted 1 with and learn to enjoy a now little world of fellow beings on llfe.'s. pilgrimage j and then—see and •njby -something different. .For myself,-1 prefer the contact with those*new and sympathetic peoples to the Old World 'rivalries, jealousies, av.d almost-universal hatred of American ; institutions, which-so many of our people habitually follow down to and ovortbo eastern oceans.. . ;