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To Western Australia by sea
Title : To Western Australia by sea To Western Australia by sea
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Source : South Australian homes and gardens, December 1937, p. 76
Place Of Creation : Adelaide
Publisher : Shipping Newspapers
Date of creation : 1937
Format : Magazine
Contributor : State Library catalogue
Catalogue record
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Description :

Interstate shipping lines carried passengers in addition to freight during the latter days of the 19th century. Later they purchased luxury liners and were able to offer ocean cruises around the Australian coast, which provided a cheaper option than an overseas cruise. These Australian cruises offered all that was available on the longer overseas cruise ships: fancy dress dances, deck games, swimming pool, endless entertainment and good food and service. The trip across the Great Australian Bight to Perth provided several thousand miles of open sea voyaging as opposed to the Gulf Trip voyages in the protected waters of Spencer Gulf. This was an alternative to the cross country rail journey in the days before interstate flights were the norm, and before the Eyre Highway to Western Australia was a sealed road.

Each of the major Australian coastal shipping lines ventured into the luxury cruise market, with holidays to the north Queensland coastal towns and to the Pacific Islands. Popular as these were rising costs brought an end to the cruises by the early 1960s. Increasing competition from railways and airlines and the costs of maintaining and crewing the ships spelt out the end of a pleasant holiday option. The coastal shipping lines would return to cargo as their main business.
Subjects
Related names :

Adelaide Steamship Company
Coverage year : 1937
Period : 1927-1939
Further reading :
The Gulf trip edited by Dieuwke Jessop Port Adelaide, S. Aust.: S.A. Maritime Museum, 1988
Internet links :
Exhibitions and events :

State Library of South Australia: Mortlock Wing exhibitions. Wooden Walls and Iron Sides August 2004-

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