AUSTRALIA: THE WONDER “DOWN UNDER”
Scientists say that Australia was cut off from the rest of the World for at least sixty million years - time enough to evolve a plant and animal life unlike any other on this planet. One result is that while Australia holds an ever-increasing position of importance in the World today… it is also a fascinating reflection of the World as it used to be. This enigmatic island continent “down under” stands as a living laboratory for the scientist… a splendid adventure for the visitor.
Passengers aboard the Cunard liner Caronia's “Five Continents” World Cruise will get a good look at the many moods of Australia. The ship, which sails from New York on 29 January, 1966, will call at Fremantle, port for the “City of Light”, Perth, and Sydney, Australia's oldest, largest and liveliest city.
Perth is the perfect introduction to the natural beauty of this nation. The picturesque South West corner of Australia boasts some 7,000 species of wild flowers most of which grow nowhere else in the World. On the broad blue Swan River, Perth is surrounded by and surrounds, lush native bushland. A thousand acre natural reserve, King's Park, is right in the heart of the city.
Nature's biggest gift to Perth is the average eight hours of sunshine a day which the city enjoys throughout the year. A few miles away, golden beaches washed by the Indian Ocean are the scenes of colourful surfing carnivals where celebrated Aussie life-guards make an art of the business of water rescue.
Like Perth, Sydney is a charming blend of natural and man-made beauty. The well-known “coathanger” bridge spans her splendid harbour. Tall luxury apartment buildings interspersed with parks and bushland line the water's edge.
Sydney ranks high among the World's great metropolitan playgrounds. Sandy beaches stretch across much of her forty mile ocean front. Inland, good restaurants and a sparkling nightlife are available. And there are no less than sixty-five golf courses in the metropolitan area.
At Sydney's Taronga Park Zoo, one can see a host of unusual native animals and birds, products of Australia's isolated evolution… duck-billed platypus, great gray kangaroo and wallaby, koala bear, the raucous kookaburra birds and seven-foot tall flightless emus.
Australia… vital and dynamic… dramatically different… it's a world apart and a part of the World that must be seen to be believed.
[Produced for the Great World Cruise departing New York 29 January 1966]