Its Railway System, Holiday Resorts &C. 1897
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NEW SOUTH WALES: ITS RAILWAY SYSTEM, HOLIDAY RESORTS, &c. A CONVENIENT VO1,UME OF REFERENCE TO THE PRINCIPAL RAILWAY STATIONS AND PLACES OF INTEREST ALONG THE RAILWAY LINES. PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE RAILWAY COMMISSIONERS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. &bnq : LL71LLIAM APPLEGATE GULLICIi, CXIVERNMEEr'T PRINTKR 11G Tlze Great Northern Line. :t sightseer's point of vie\\-, it is vastly over-rated, when all atr once, tilrougli a series of gaps in the sandstone mall, a view of su passing beauty opens out Lefore yon. The Hamliesbury. The Eru\vl~esburjrat last ! More like a land-locked lake incleecl than a deep ocean inlet ; but whether river, lake, or inlet, so profouilclly tran- quil and so marvellollsly lol~elythat the traveller becomes reconcilecl on the instnnt to his journey, and even ,rrrateful to the 'cuttings and the t~ulnelnfor the surprise they hacl in store for him. The line continues to fall as it an,roaches the river, and when the train draws up alongside the IZ"n\vkesbury platfornl it is but 9 feet above sea-level, and surrounded 011 three sides by water. Without a doubt this is the most deliglitful Iialting place on ally Australian railway line. Sonle writers have called the Hawkesbnry the Australian Rhine, others have compared it to the Upper H~~clson.No visitor has ever seen it and gone disappointed away. In t!le railn-ay train one surveys the landscape literally from the river's l~rin!;. It is a scene of calm waters and towering headlancls, mimic bays ancl tiny beaches, rocks covered ~vithshellfish and seaweecl, gullies overrun n ith ferns ; it is a picture painted in a high key, a picture almost ic\,oid of traces of the presence of inan ; and the solitude of it and the silence are air~ongs;stits most impressive attributes. Eastward a few miles only, but beyond the range of the railway traveller's vision, the rirer mingrles its waters with those of Broken Bay. Westwarcl small craft make their xvay to JViseman's Ferry, to Windsor, and to Richmond ; nnd there the country through ~vhichthe river flows assumes a pastoral killcl of beautr, and the land baconles marvellously fertile. Little woncler that the early settlers found their way to the valley of the Kamkesbnry. Less wonder that to-day it is a favourite resort for tourists from abroad, and pleasure seekers from all parts of the colony, sad especially, of course, for the residents of the met opolis. Yachts- nlen sail along tlic coast to Broken Bay and thence up the river in their j-acllts. Others take the train to Hamkesbury Station and return by steamer, whilst others, again, go overland by coach from Manly to New- port, a charming spot on the southern arm of Broken Bay, thence by tvaler to Hawkesbury and back to town by rail. Those wishing to visit r the river and return to their homes the same day go both ways by train, and to give them an opportunity of seeing more of tlie bean'cies of tlle scenery than mould otllerrvise be possible, tlre stea:ner G'c~leralGorcio,~ makes escursions on tlie river during stateJ hours. Leaving Ilam1cesbui.y Station tlin train passes over :L ilar;o\l; (:.~IJSC::.:I~ to tlie famous bridge spanning the river, which at this point is n1:oct three-quarters of a mile in width. The bridge itself is a hn~ltlsclilestruc- ture, the longest bridge in Australia, mid as regards iti fo~ul;iation:i one of the most remarl~al~leSridgcs in the morld. It nlnp interest tl~c traveller to learn that its :~ctualIengtli is 5,000 feet,, t'l~atit is sup!)ortetl by six piers, each resting on a caisson filled with concretr, ancl tllus forming tlie iuost solid foundation possil:Ie, ancl that to meet t!ie undu!:~- tions in the bed of the river these caissons vary in depth iiou~101 feet, to 162 feet, the deepesb representing thc deepest Icno\\~nfou~lriatiori for :L bridge south of the line. EIe may be interested furtlier to iiiiow tl~zt the length of the main gii-clers is 410 feet, that tlie height of tlie Lridzo is 5s feet above the surface of the river, aud that each span was CO:)- structed separately on an enormous rpontooii a qunrt;er ~f a iaile a\-;;?? and floated into position. But after all such cletniis are not of enthmlling i1itere::l duri~lgtlie crossing of the bridge itself. Tile scencry :hnc engages tliv atte~itioll . of the traveller at thal; moment. 41id tller~,~rlien the t~,ain11:ls gnuneS;l the northern shore, and you find you self skimming alo~lgthe baill.:s of 3lnllet Creel<, x long and picturesque inlet of tl~eHa:v!;esbury, features of interest crowd the landscnpe ; and if you arc an '' old hand '' on the road you will most likely be recalling nlenlories of tl:c trip across the river on hoard the Geneiwl Gnrdo,~before t,he bridge was built, memories of cold feet and steaming coift?c, of breaking day ailcl risi1:g mists, of the bustle and confusion entailed in tnrnsferring n train-load of passengers ancl baggage from the railway to tlie steamer and from the steamer to the 'ailway. The completion of the Hamkesbury Eridge was the last link in the line from Adelaicle to Brisbane. Tl~etrain run5 to the head of Aiullet Creelr, then worius its way into a saccession of heavy cuttings, and through a well ventilated t~~iinela nlile ill length, said to be the longest tunnel in Australia. For all t!~at the 1l8 The Great Xortherlz Lirze. surroulldings, generally circumscribed though they be, are as picturesque as a wilderness of ferns and palms and flowering shrubs and water chipping from sandstone rocks can make them. At Woy Woy the railway strikes another inlet of the ocean. This time it is Brisbane Water, the northern arm of Broken Bay. Viewed from the train like the first glimpse of the Bawkesbury it presents the appearance of an expansive lake, low hills swelling gently from the water's edge, the rnost distant shores some 10 miles of, clearings here and there, and smoke rising from the chimneys of scattered dwellings. Woy Woy is situated on the shallows to the south of Brisbane Water ; . and Gosford, the most important township in the district, lies under the shelter of some hills on its northern shore. Gosford is a singularly picturesque littie village, and both places, affording unrivalled facilities for shooting and fishing, are thronged at holiday seasons by sportsmen from Sydney. Besides, was it not to the nlusic of Narrara Creek, B hillside torrent, dashing L'wild and white" from chasm to cbasm vvithin full view of the line beyoncl Gosforcl that the poet Kendall attuned one of his sweetest lays? Through gorges unquest, in whose nether recesses Is heard the far psalin of unseen wildernesses- Like a domina~itspirit, a stronghanded sharer Of spoil with the tempest, comes down the Narrara. The poem, like the scene, belongs to the journey. Beyond Gosford the traveller finds himself for a time in a land where the soil is rich and the trees are tall and straight, their topmost braliches intertwining above a tangled mass of undergrowth. The surrouncling country is admirably adapted for fruit growing and agriculture, but so far there has beell but little settlement in the district, and it is only here and there that an occasional clearing inclicates the in store for it. A few miles further on are the Tuggerah Lakes, one of the principal sources of the fish s~lpplyfor Syclney. The lakes consist of three distinct bodies of water (more correctly described as ilv~nense lagoons) known by the native names of Tuggerah, Mulmorah, and Budgewah, and the three are connected with each other, and finally with the Pacific Ocean by narrow channels. They abound in fish of almost every kind to be found along the'Australian coast, and at times the Sydney to Wnllnngarra. 110 surface of the water is covered with the graceful rforni of the black swan, while wild ducks and other game, although not sohnumerous as formerly, are still plentiful in places. After this lake country comes an unwelcome change-mile after mile of flat country, covered with coarse grass and stunted trees, scarcely a habitation to be seen, and little inducement fo anyone to settle there. In point of fact, with the exception of Dora Creek and Cockle > Creek, two fine streams which intersect tlie line at an iilterval of 13 miles, between Wyong aud Newcastle the land is poor ailcl the scenery devoid of interest. From Passifern, however, a train carries picnic parties to Toronto, a favourite holiday resort on tlie shores of Lake 3!!acquarie, and at Teralba a corner of the lake itself comes into viem, if ther truth must be told, uncler somewhat unfavourable circuul- r stances; fo the group of miners' huts scattered about amo~igst1.on.s of blackened tree stumps on the shore would rob tlie most romantic scelie of half its poetry. r Lake Macquarie. The lake is said to have been named after one of our most famous Goveriiors, and is a most picturesque saltwater lake, some 40 miles in length, and in places as wide as 6 miles. To give an idea of its size, it may be stated that it has about 800 miles of foreshores. Very irregular in shape, at no one point can the whole of the lake be seen, but its numerous smiling bays, its charming points and promontories, with their geiitly sloping banks clad in vivid g eenJ are very beautiful.