MOTOR TOUR THROUGH QUEENSLAND.

Shannon News, 29 November 1929, Page 4

MOTOR TOUR THROUGH QUEENSLAND.

Mr. and Mrs. Reid returned to Foxton recently from Australia after having completed a 30,000 miles motor tour through Queensland. Mr. Reid was ahead of a circus combination. He left New Zealand last July in mild weather and the initial journey from Sydney by rail over the Blue Mountains, he said, was one of the coldest he has ever experienced. Full camp equipment was carried and this was used extensively throughout the trip. “We experienced no winter, except for the cold snap before mentioned in New South Wales,' 7 said Mr. Reid to a press representative. “Beyond the town there were no formed roads, just beaten tracks in places through bamboo grass which grows as high as the eai\ For this reason night travelling had- to be abandoned as one was apt to lose the train. Black snakes were plentiful and one had to be careful to avoid their tails, otherwise they were apt to lurch into the csr. One rcptilo entwined itself round the spokes. In one area the death adder abounded and sheltered beneath 1 the prickly pears. Every town out west had a splendidly equipped ambulance service, manned by trained men. These ambulances travelled great distances into the interior when required. At one town visited there was an aerial fish service from the Gulf of Carpentaria and the fish found a ready market. Wild turkeys abounded and these, said Mr. Reid, made a, very appetising diet. Some of the people out west lived a very primitive existence. One middle-aged lady informed ‘him that she had only recently seen a railway and had yet to view the ocean. Rain fell at very rare intervals. Mosquitoes and. sand flics were a great post and fires had to' be lit by settlers to provide smoke in order to protect the animals against them. On one or two occasions Mr. Reid's neck was raw from the bites of these insects. Very little had been done by the authorities in connection with highways formation iff these wide, open and barren stretches of country. Motoring in such country was anything but comfortable. Mr. and Mrs. Reid wore glad to get back to New Zealand and intend to subsequently take up their residence in Wellington. At present they are staying with their son, Mr. 11. Reid.