Day 47 – October 17 2012

Our morning started with a drive to the Murray River & under the road bridge at Moama, to a gently sloping riverside on an inside bend of the river that the locals call “The Beach”.  I’m sure on a hot day in summer it would be a pleasant place to be.  At the moment after the recent flooding it could be called “The Mud”.  Our next stop a little further downstream was the Moama Slipway, where riverboats are retrieved for inspection & any necessary repairs.  Next to the slipway is an old Murray River barge called the Ada that is awaiting its turn for restoration, there is a lot of work required.  This barge is huge, it must be over 30 metres long & 7 metres wide.  The slipway gives a good view of the port area & the wharf on the Echuca side of the river.  There is a lot of noticeable erosion from the last large flood, with lots of tree roots exposed & trees toppled into the river.

Next we drove over the river to Echuca & the historic port area.  There are lots of old restored working paddle steam boats here & we saw a couple of them steam off taking loads of tourists.  We had a quick look at the buildings then joined a guided tour of the wharf area.  The guide was extremely knowledgeable & interesting & the tour was over before we knew it.  After the tour we poked around the wharf area by ourselves & came across the old sawmill, with original steam driven machinery restored & in working order, again it was extremely interesting.  We explored the underground illegal bar at the Star Hotel across the street from the port & its escape route if raided by police.  We then walked down the street to the old Bridge Hotel & looked around upstairs where the rooms are set up as they were in the early 1900s, complete with period furniture & wallpaper.  It has been very well presented, complete with the squatters quarters.  Downstairs we had a pleasant lunch at the hotel sitting in the shade as it was a beautiful warm day.  After lunch we made our way back to the wharf, looking in at the working blacksmith forge & the woodworking workshop before boarding the paddle steamer Pevensey for an afternoon cruise on the river.

The Pevensey was the paddle steamer used in the television series & movie “All the Rivers Run”, but was renamed the “Philadelphia” for the duration of filming.  Another paddle steamer here, the “Emmylou” was also used in the show under its own name.  The Pevensey only had around a dozen passengers on our river cruise so it was very comfortable being able to move around freely.  The smell of the engine & the steam whistle sound is a totally different sensation than all the desert we have been experiencing for most of our trip.  Our river cruise was very comfortable, sitting on wool bales, a pleasant 22C & no wind, with the gentle pulse of the steam engine & the thrash of the paddles as we serenely sailed downstream.  There are lots of very nice & expensive riverboats moored against the bank & there are also some very nice homes on the riverbank.  Again, we see a lot more recent flood damage evident from the decks of the Pevensey.  All too soon we are back at the dock again, the captain using the current to guide the ship into its mooring, with a few well-timed pushes from the paddles.  This was a great experience.

We explored around the dock area further, reading our way through the well set up museum, before heading out into the general port area & wandering amongst the many old buildings.  All too soon the day was over, so back to camp after another great day.

Ron was in second heaven today, the water, the boats & the history, the only thing missing were some good long jetties with lots of wind.  All I have to say is “hallelujah” we are away from Little Desert, Big Desert & all the heat, sand, flies & SNAKES.  This place is lovely, the weather is good, the place is nice & very interesting, we just loved the leisurely trip by the steam boat.  Ron & I walked around the caravan park enjoying the late afternoon by the river & we were amazed that they have hundreds of permanent resident cabins (some are really nice – we can see why they are holiday homes)  & a token of about 10 caravan sites (I suppose so that they can call it a caravan park).