My Sat.24.9 set.
- PS Adelaide.
- Onion Patch under water; Hero's floating jetty inaccessible; PS Ranger, PS Etona, PV Struggler.
I was collected at one of the port walkways by Etona.
From the water:
- SWPV Adventurous, PS Perricoota, PV Amelia Jane, PV Black Shag.
- PS/PV Britannia (dual), PS Pevensey (not in steam).
- PS Alexander Arbuthnot, SL Marian Rose, PV Billy Tea.
- 160924Sa Moama, PS Hero. Hero is normally upmarket charter, but was running cruises booked though the port. I suspect that it was chartered by the port to cover Pevensey not operating for this busy weekend. The old shops are facades on motel units, attached to a marina.
- PS Emmylou in the twilight/dusk fireworks parade.
- PS Alexander Arbuthnot in the twilight/dusk fireworks parade. Other boats are positioned at the wharf already; it will round up and follow us in. The fireworks people had to relocate the spot where they detonated; the usual one was under water.
- Sun.25.9 R761 & K153 being prepared to run public shuttle trips to Barnes.
Way back, the port planned a low-key local celebration on the correct day, in July. The main public one would be in September when the temporary pontoon bridge at Koondrook/Barham had been removed, and the water would allow downriver boats to rally. Steamrail came on board, and planned a weekend extravaganza: a positioning move from Melbourne on Friday; shuttles (with a steam loco at each end) on Saturday and most of Sunday; back to Melbourne late afternoon to late evening. This had only sitting carriages; various packages used Echuca motels, and being aboard Emmylou. Before July, it was known that the bridge wouldn't be out until December. The July program was expanded to major scale, and the September one was kept as planned. This was also school-holiday time.
I had only Saturday in Echuca, and couldn't wait for Sunday's events. After photographing the depot, I headed for Swan Hill for a triple celebration: the 150th anniversary of Murray Downs homestead; the 120th anniversary of PV (originally PS) Pyap, and the 50th anniversary of the formal opening of the pioneer village. I was on a special 12.00 lunch cruise on Pyap to the homestead, with a rare guided tour (it is a private home now, and no longer a tourist site). I called at Koondrook/Barham and discovered that the bridge had yet to be placed. On the best water for a long time, boats could have come. There were a lot of floaters (logs and limbs). On Etona, we had had to cut power at times as one glanced by; this was to avoid damage to the paddles. While at Swan Hill, I saw four rafts paddle by. These are run by Scout Association for the Venturer section (15-18 yo), and have now been running for 30 years. At first, just Murrabit - Swan Hill (Pental Island), in September. Now a second group takes over to continue Swan Hill - Wood Wood.
In related news (to be separate posts). Koondrook has a good floating jetty under construction: useful for private houseboats, Spirit II commercial cruises, paddlesteamer voyages from Echuca when the water allows. PS Adelaide and PS Canberra have been through in recent years, but with no passengers allowed. The port is promising a voyage with PS Alexander Arbuthnot in November. It was built for Arbuthnot sawmill, still in operation at Koondrook. PV Emmylou was built at Barham, and was to voyage to Mildura in 2001, but was stopped by low water. At the end of October, PS Oscar W will be part of the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of Meningie (Lake Albert). It has crossed lake Alexanrina many times east-west. This time it crosses south-north, recreating the pioneering Milang - Meningie mail run, part of the Adelaide - Melbourne route in the era before the through railway was built.
My standard ending to these posts: cash in your inheritance, and fly to Australia while the water is good and the events are happening.
Roderick
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