SOUTHERN CROSS WAY

you sydney's Harbor reputedly ranks with those of hong kong and rio de janeiro as the most beautiful in the world observed from the air it manifestly does not average a mile in width though its water frontage due to the many bays and coves totals 188 miles Sydney is situated on the east coast of Australia and is the island continents largest city with a population of one and a quarter million our ship of Dreams has passed the head and is saddling a long circular key back of an above which is the new harbour bridge for the span of 1,650 feet the largest single arch in the world this magnificent structure when completed will link North Sydney with the business heart of the city visible in the distance being as far south of the Equator as Los Angeles is north of it Sydney is just as popular for its hundreds of bungalow home it's radiant sunshine and it's great outdoors in Australia they say Adelaide for culture Melbourne for business and Sydney for pleasure no other city anywhere as so many fine beaches within easy distance or perhaps so many winsome nymph of such no UK and charm as is this one one of the most popular beaches font of possibly 15,000 on a Sunday afternoon in January which is midsummer below the equator is that at Bondi famous for its wonderful surfing this one like all the others as a volunteer life saving club the members of which those serving without pay our expert swimmers who regularly patrol the beach and Mark with flags we're bathing may be enjoyed safe from sharks and undertow on occasion competitive life-saving exhibitions are held during which the young men enthusiastically demonstrate how they in their spare time safeguard the lives of thousands during the last season alone records show that they saved no less than eighteen thousand three hundred lives the leg movement which it first seems a bit theatrical actually is the only free and natural manner of enabling the feet to advance through sand or water try it yourself sometime as soon as the prospective patient has proceeded a hundred yards or so into the surf a starting signal sends them off to the rescue one member of the team having Don the belt swims out to the patient as three others pay out the line to him each one is a fine specimen of barrel young manhood who by submitting himself to regular training and discipline not only is improving in physique skill and stamina but is enlisting in that augmenting army of Australian athletes that will make the world look to its laurels one of these fine Olympic days the rescue having been affected the linesman carry the patient well upon the beach for resuscitation in these contests the judging is on a basis of 100 points 30 for speed 30 for efficiency 30 for resuscitation and 10 for general discipline so keen are these young men for the sheer honor of winning that I doubt that a more inspiring spectacle can be witnessed anywhere then when 500 or more of them each one a tested swimmer and a qualified lifesaver takes part in the annual championship carnival at such a time they look as indeed they are one of the greatest voluntary humane organizations in the world the minute hand of this floral clock moves every 15 seconds operated by a system of weights and balances similar to the one in edinboro Scotland this contrivance also keeps actual time it is in turanga park sydney in my humble opinion the finest Oh illogical garden in the world black swans are found only in Western Australia though the conspicuous Pelican may be encountered elsewhere dens caves pools and thickets occupies 60 acres artistically laid out on a hill slope overlooking the harbour a romantic pair of Australian seals have a love tank all to themselves and peacock alley is all should be somehow these proud creatures though presumably masculine seem to be endowed with every feminine instinct save one they can't talk but even before we turn the corner what woman calls intuition has told them that a camera is coming what a pity that such beauty must yield to the Paras the liar bird in the cockatoo all Australian but also blatant that they're in the talkies now the EMU unknown outside Australia has no earthly value being without wings plumage or edible flesh you nanan special Bauer is a bevy of flamingos but the one thing that everyone who comes to this land of living fossils wants to see is a platypus strangest of all known animals it has a furry body and tail like a beaver a broad bill like a duck and for web defeat with claws the female lays eggs yet chuckles its young even those who have seen it won't believe it probably the oldest of Australian animals is the dingo or wild dog cunning intelligent savage but the best known is undoubtedly the kangaroo prehistoric equivalent of the deer not so many years ago they roamed the globe sea planes in great moth but sportsmen and fur merchants have so reduced their numbers but they are now protected by law as marsupials the females have couches in their breasts for the youngsters who like children prefer riding with head and both feet out the window though Australia is called a white man's continent about 60,000 Aborigines tall graceful muscular black fellow still survive they have given to the world their famous weapon the boomerang this one is more of a play thing which if thrown against the light breeze will describe a wide circle and return to the throwers feet heavier and straighter ones were used in war and others for hunting could be cast with deadly precision even curling about a tree to fellow flying bird probably asleep I up in a gum tree within a park just north of Sydney are a few of Australia's quaintest and most lovable animals they are koalas ornate bears looking exactly like teddy bears come to life they subsist exclusively on the tendra sleeves of a certain eucalypt consequently metal belts preclude their ascending trees which they should not eat or from which they cannot be rescued occasionally essentially arboreal they dislike venturing above the ground but always descend of when they do backward they have prominent black noses large bushy ears powerful arms and claws and no tail they retain a perpetual expression of intelligent and amiable surprise as the Koala is also a marsupial the baby grows up in the mother's pouch but becomes a bareback rider on climbing expeditions Bobby is chief attendant of these absurd little creatures he fondles and pampers them and they pull at his clothes until it looks as if Bobby would bear all over but Bobby sticks it out and they stick to Bobby just as sheep and wool are the oldest industries in the world so they are in this new country the first 29 sheep were imported in 1788 the year in which Sydney was founded and in 1930 there were a hundred and five million about one-sixth of the world's flocks producing more than one-fourth of the world's wool indicating that Australian sheep yield twice as much wool as sheep elsewhere these are all Marino's a hardy breed that likes the climate despite the periodic creasing it gets however it does produce an exceptionally heavy staple of a good quality wool cattle provide another prominent industry for dairy purposes in the south and for fresh or tinned beef on the high grasslands of the north where one ranch or station of 13,000 square miles is reputed to be the largest in the world among Australia's many surprises are its camels which however are not native having been imported together with their who star Ivers from Afghanistan during the gold rush in the late 80s thus the call of the east lures us on our way to some other glittering port of call