Through the Land of Gum and Home Again.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5382, 1 February 1929, Page 1

Through the Land of Gum and Home Again.

(By

C. W. Malcolm.)

(The opinions and criticisms expressed here are; not necessarily those of the Editor.) . .. — I PART IV. THE NEWCASTLE TRIP. The train journey to Newcastle—if one can forget the train journey it spjlf.—ris preferable to most of the lines out of Sydney. It is 104 mil.es, and takes nearly four hours. From Sydney to Kurin-gai the line ascends ta 702 feet above sea-lqvel and) one is, relieved to 's,ee extensive hillsides of green fruit trees laid out in neat i'qws covering hundreds of Here and there glint the tempting golden fruit until the view changes, and ■again we plunge tlnpugh stoney gum-trefed hil] country. The white ants’ nests,, clay castles, built over the old stumps become plentiful along this line. From the height at Kuringai one is by the vastness of mountain range that sweeps, away into the haze of distance.

A really wonderful sight, however, is soon in store for the tourist thci Hawkesbury River. Acres of oyster/ beds first greet the eye as the river starts to widen from the gorge, until it becomes .a bewildering sheet of water more like a harbour with beautifud bays reaching away into the bush-clad hilljj. One cannot tell whence the river comes, nor whither it goes,- for that silver sheet stretches, pin and on, with its waves sparkling in the sunlight, with pleasure craft sailing upon its shining, surface.' Then we rumble on to tremendous structure of. steel which claims a photo in every school atlas —the Hawkesbury River bridge. Men are working on It at the time, and we; crawl slowly ovei; its long length, securing a grand and deliberate view of the whole magnificent scene. The track leads on for more than three miles along the verdant edge erf the watej.;, and it is .with a sigh of regret that we suddenly into a tunnel and leave this beauty spot behind! us for ever.

As we approach Newcastle, the country drier and dustier, and blacker and hotter. We pass, numerous mining, sidings and. dirty train loads o£ coal, until at last we run, into the terminal platform, and alight, stretching bruised limbs.,, To .continue its journey northward the train has to affix an engine at the stern and proceed in a reversed, dfirec.tion. This has been done so' that passengers who were unfortunatl enough to get a backward seat at Sydney can make facep at the astonished persons who had, seized) what they thought to be the best 'seats, f° r the journey. I can see no other use; the arrangement.

Newcastle is a city with trams that are identical with those of Sydney. In Auckland you. ring a convenientlyplaced bell to indicate tlhat you. wish to alight at the next stop. - If there are no passengers to board or alight the car, has a good,''clear run. But in Sydney and’ Newcastle the trams grind to a painful* and compulsory stop at every s topping-place. : Newcastle has been littered, irregularly and blindly over the flat laud, and the lowfoot hills behind; wooden building's have been thrown up and, painted onc,e In their existence, we hope, for thqre is little sign pif paint no.w, and, over all has been sprinkled soot dust, grime, and dirt, and it has not rained for the last twelve months.

I rolled all over the place in the trams,.* I dashed up the main strep t and,. suddenly, surmounting a- rise, found myself gazing over the blue, the e ver-fresh, and rolling Taisman, and realised that Newcastle .has a beautiful open beach. ,1 r.an down a side street, mounted an oevrheafl footbridge above the railway, saw the 'Hunter River, a majestic, broad stretch of water passing out between its head to the open, sea; saw the basin with a crowding massi of shipping of all sizes ranging from 'spaall coastal boat's to big liners; saw the famous steel works in the distance; dashed down the stairs, and on to the platform; caught a Sydney train by two minutes, and I hadl seen Newcastle. THE BLUE MOUNTAINS. Steeling our, nerve let us plunge recklessly, and take another New South Wales train journey—this) timq to Katoomba. It is a climb to an altitude of 3336 feet. in. some 80 miles and takes! nearly four hours. The gorge though which the western line finds its Way in surmounting the; Great Divide gives! the traveller a momentary glimpse of magnificent and awe-inspiring 'grandeur. The train pant's upwards along a hewn ledge, and a broad river wnds majestically away down at the. bottom of the great defile

The mountains from the train have a peculiarity—range lying beyond range, each merely showing a narrow edge above its predecessor, unftil they fade into the haze.

Arriving at Katoomba I rushed doiwn the subway and up the stairs emerging into the main stret-,t of quite a busy little township. It is simplicity itself to get into a’ b’is marked “Echo l Point,” pay sixpence, and alight ten minutes late/ on. the eminence so named.

(To be continued’ on Monday).