THE MELBOURNE EXHIHIBITION. JOTTINGS BY OUR SPECIAL.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 307, 13 October 1888, Page 3

THE MELBOURNE EXHIHIBITION. JOTTINGS BY OUR SPECIAL.

The stay of the visitor in Sydney would naturally depend largely on the time at his disposal. Several weeks might be very pleasantly passed, but if the visit were a hurried one, very many of the sights of Sydney and its environs might be seen in two ov three days. Time should, if possible, be set apart for a trip to the Fish River Caves, which are beautiful in the extreme, and form the chief attraction to the tourists in New South Wales. They are reached by rail, the line passing; over the remarkable Blue Mountain zigzag. The caves can be "done "in a couple of days, although, if the beauties ot the district are to be thoroughly seen and appreciated, a longer stay is desirable. Reference was made in the" last article to the principal places in and around Sydney which are worth visiting, but one important omission from the list was made. The stranger should by all means ascend either the Post Office or Town Hall tower, and the foxmer might well have the preference. Nearly three hundred steps require to be mounted, but when the top of the tower is reached the trouble of the ascent is forgotten. The panoramic view is really splendid, embracing as it does the city of Sydney, surrounded by its lovely harbour, and with the Parramatta and the various beautiful suburbs stretching away in the distance. The view is a wonderful one, and cannot easily be forgotten.

SYDNEY TO MELBOURNE. I The novelties of Sydney having exhausted themselves, the tourist naturally turns his attention to Melbourne, windier he can proceed either by rail or steamei\ Thero is practically no difference in the cost of this journey, but the railway trip is accomplished in less than half the time occupied by the steamer, and therefore* is more popular for this reason, and the fact that the terrois of mal de mer are avoided. Two ti-ains start for Melbourne every day. The express leaves at live o'clock in the afternoon, and reaches Melbourne at eleven o'clock the next forenoon, thus covering the journey of 600 miles in 18 hours. The return fare is £6 Is first-class, and £4 11s second-class, and the first-class passenger has the option of travelling all night in a sleeping berth by payment of an additional 12s 6d. The mail train leaves about nine o'clock at night, and travels more slowly, reaching Melbourne at half-past ten the next night, so that the trip occupies 25 hours. First-class passengers are charged £4 return and secondclass £3, with the extra impost for sleeping berths. An excursion train leaves Sydney every Tuesday morning at halfpasb five, and reaches Melbourne late that night, the return fare being £3 first-class, and £2 second class. This is an exceptionally low charge for a 600 mile journey. It will thus be seen that the tourist has the choice of three separate trains on the railway. So far as the sea route is concerned, passenger steamers leave Sydney for Melbourne nearly every day, the return saloon fare being £3 15s, and single fares £2 ss. Excursionists travelling by sea, however, usually prefer to go by one of the large ocean - going steamers, which leave weekly. The second cabin fare on these immense vessels is about the same as the saloon fare on one of the ordinary trading boats. The trip occupies about two days, and occasionally extends even into the thii-d day, so that it is scarcely to be wondered at that the bulk of the passenger traffic is monopolised by the railway.

THE OVERLAND JOURNEY. Our party, which comprised a number of Aucklanders, made the journey to Melbourne by rail, and in some respects a very monotonous trip it was. New Zealanders are accustomed to charming scenery, but they will find very little to gratify their taste for the beautiful on the run across. Pretty scenery there is none. Thegrass land is indifferent, andwillnobbear comparison with New Zealand pasture. Occasional clumps of stunted bluegum and iron bark do duty for bush, but they are devoid of beaufcy. Evidences of cultivation are few and far between, and farming settlement appears to be much more sparse than on the Waikato, Wanganui - New Plymouth, and Christchurch - Dunedin lines of railway. The comparisons made by the New Zealand traveller are decidedly all in favour of his own country, and whatever the prosperity of Sydney and Melbourne as cities may be, their back-country is much inferior to that of New Zealand.

AS OTHERS SEE US. En passant, just a word in support of this statement, and for the benefit of our dissatisfied farming community. When we were nearing the Victorian border, a farmer entered the carriage and commenced a conversation with one of our party. Someone remarked that larming in New Zealand did not pay, and the New South Welshman replied, " Well, we manure for fourteen bushels to the acre, and sometimes our crops are destroyed by drought, and yet farming pays here. Now in New Zealand, you get as much as 45 bushels to the acre without manure, and yet you say it doesn't pay. How on earth is that?" We couldn't enlighten our mystified querist, but possibly some New Zealand agriculturist can figure the problem out satisfactorily.

SPOTS OF INTEREST. Absence of interesting scenery is atoned for in some degree by the facb that the train stops en route at a number of towns and at several places of historical interest. For instance, half-an-hour is spent at vVagga Wagga, the town in which the Tichborne claimant carried on the business of a butcher before he was known to fame. Albury is .'mother "spot of interest." Here it is that the execrations of successive crowds of passengers are levelled at the heads of the conscientious Customs officers, whose duty ifc is to search the luggage of the unfortunate travellers, and see that contraband goods are not conveyed over the border- without the payment of the proper duty. These individuals have a reputation for efficiency in the performance of their labours, and. no tourist who has been through their hands •will be disposed to deny that the search is rigid and complete. The train passes through the famous Kelly country, and stops at Wangaratta and also at Euroa, where ]Mcd Kelly stuck up the bank. A stoppage is also made at Glenrowan, the scene of Ned Kellys final stubborn defense and ultimate capture. From the carriage window may still be seen the fallen tree over the trunk of which Ned Kelly tripped before he was arrested. The house in which the outlaws took shelter,and under cover of which they fought with so much determination, has been pulled down, and a neat little police station erected in its place. The whole of the surrounding country is interesting as the scene of the well-re-membered Kelly exploits. Victoria and New South Wales are divided by the River Murray, which is on the southern side of Albury, and from this point it is noticeable that the vegetation is more verdanb and fresher, owing no doubt to

more frequont rains ; cultivation is also more plentiful.

PROTECTION Y. FREE TRADE. It is often assevted and frequently denied that the cost of living is lower in Victoria than New South Wales. This may be true, or it may not, but the fact impressed itself forcibly on our attention at the railway refreshment rooms. On the New South "Wales side we paid Is and even Is 6d for a sandwich and cup of tea. In Victoria, however, the charge was either 9d or 6cl for the tea and sandwich. So it was with meals. On the New South Wales side, the charge was 2s 6d and 3s, while on the Victoiian side the dinner or breakfast, or whatever it might be, was of better quality, and was supplied at the very low price of Is 6d. That is one point in Victoria's favour, and 3peaks well for protection. — " Star Correspondent."