AustLit

19th-Century Australian Travel Writing

Ethel Gwendoline Vincent's (1861-1952) Forty Thousand Miles Over Land and Water was written in a diary format. This travel narrative chronicled her journey with her husband from England to America, through Canada, the Pacific, and New Zealand before reaching the colonies of Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. Following their stay in the Australian colonies, the couple returned to England via Indonesia, India and Egypt. In Australia, Vincent briefly described the lack of enterprise in the colonies, the beautiful scenery of Hobart, the impressive bustle of Melbourne high society, as well as providing an account of Ballarat and Geelong. Vincent travelled to Sydney by train where she and her husband dined with the Governor of New South Wales, and she noted that Sydney was prettier than Melbourne. They visited the Blue Mountains by rail before sailing for Brisbane and up the Queensland coast where they departed for Batavia.