Echuca Heritage Festival 6&7 October 200

[michael]

Another Heritage Festival to put down in history, although to me it was probebly the smallest and least exciting.
I Arrived Saturday morning, steam rollers/traction engines were coming out onto Murray Esplanade aswell as some stalls and weekend buskers and personalities.
PS Pevensey, Emmylou, Canberra and PV Pride were running daily trips.
PS Hero went out for a private lunch cruise to the Campaspe and return and then did a 1hr trip downstream which I managed to get aboard for.
Saturday night sailpast wasn't very spectactular participating was PS Pevensey, Hero, Alexander Arbuthnot, Adelaide, Emmylou, Canberra, Pride of the Murray, Ranger and James Maiden. The vessels went downstream then on the return trip tied up along riverboat dock where the short fireworks display was set off from the slipway, so wasn't really a sailpast, and it happened a bit early so some people arrived to late.
Sunday: PS Pevensey, Emmylou, Canberra and Pride running normal trips. PS Hero static at mooring.
11am saw the cavalcade of transport parade down Murray Esplanade and High street, including trucks, buses, cars, tractors, horse drawn carridges, steam rollers and a marching band.
4pm saw the bridge of steam occour at the log slip with boats mooring of PS Hero: Pride of the Murray, AA, Adelaide, Pevensey, Emmylou, Canberra and James Maiden. Port ambassadors Nan and Don were to cross the boats but was cancelled. Blessing of the fleet occoured before the boats departed back to their moorings.
PS Perricotta had tubes out of boiler, PS Henry Charles, Britannia, Billy Tea and Adventurous stranded in wet dock, Etona boiler not tubed, PS Barmah didn't participate, PV Amelia Jane was out of town.
Will post more photo's just short on time at the moment

[paddlesteamerman1]

I thought that the weekend was a tad disappointing in many aspects.. but never the less it was still a good time.
Saturday nights sailpast was a disgrace I thought - I was working aboard PS Pevensey and for $40 a ticket, a cruise to just below the slipway , some nibbles and a quick fireworks display wasnt enough. Though there was a small mishap at the bend which caused our trip to be shorter than planned (a houseboat full of people was going down the wrong side of the river backwards and a couple of commercial houesboats that were awkwardly moored).
I didnt manage to see the fireworks as the PS Pevensey's engine was about to start blowing off again and we had to take care of that and by the time I surfaced again they were just about over!!!

[Roderick Smith]

I am preparing for 7 days away, incorporating 4 days on the water in SA.  I do expect to see and photograph a few boats between Blanchetown and Overland Corner.

I had to miss Echuca this time.
Paddleducker Ned F was there, but is using his holiday to explore more Murray before getting home to a computer.
Mrs Hopwood was my sister-in-law Robyn.  The two have been married now for over 35 years.  Jessie II is kept on their farm only 40 min from Echuca (near Merrigum, which is near the better-known centre Kyabram, or Shepparton for overseas readers).

Somebody has commented that there has not been much recent news worldwide, even from Australia.  July was a hectic month, and there was a lot to post then.  Over winter there is a lull for maintenance; with the river well down, there hasn't been much exciting action either.

I am expecting to post more with my November cruise, which is timed to coincide with the centenary celebration for PS Canally.  The date is not known yet.  With luck, it will be after Sean's and James's exams are over.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[paddlesteamerman1]

I finish school this year on 27th November  
I have included a few pictures from this years festival.. all of which are of the boats!
Also a couple of the Oscar W which is currently on the slipway at Hindmarsh Island that Mum was able to take after being allowed access to the fenced off steamer!!!

[derekwarner_decoy]

Hi PD's.....David...check out the following  :computer link....it discusses that the wharf could cope with the ten metre [or 30'] variation in river level

However this was prior to the Murray river locks & weirs being built...so all of the flood water from 2000Km away in Queensland made its way via Echuca & finally to the Murray mouth at Goolwa in South OZ

http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/national/sites/echuca.html

[paddlesteamerman1]

Hi David!
Glad you enjoyed the pictures... I was experimenting with our new camera!
Yes, the wharf was built for a large variation in river level, but it doesnt often get high enough to pose threat to the routine of the paddlers. The last 'high' river was in 1993 where the water was around the second level and PS Pevensey was high enough up that the top of the boat was higher than the wharf. The largest flood in that part of the river wasnt the 1956 flood it was back in 1800s sometime.. though Im not sure of the actual year if I remember correctly!
I have hundreds more photos from the weekend if anyone is interested!

[derekwarner_decoy]

Hi PD's....David ...here is a snap of a photograph showing the same Echuca wharf in high water

[stephenf10]

This is my first post to Puddleducks. I'm not a modeller but have an interest in the Murray River and the boats that travel (and have travelled) on her. I have compiled a GPS file from various sources of some of the visible and sunken wrecks on the river and one day hope to travel the river and visit as many as possible.

My wife and I travelled across from Adelaide for the Festival at Echuca. We had been in 2003 and 2004 and looked forward to being there again. After doing the sums we joined as Patrons at the Port shop so that we could have more boat rides for less money and to ensure that we would come again next year to get our money's worth! We went on three cruises on the Pevensey (including the Fireworks cruise). On the upstream cruise on Friday we caught up with the Emmylou past Moama and came v-e-r-y close to her stern as we tried to overtake her but ran out of river and had to change tack. A quick reverse of the wheels saved an embarassing contact.

I agree with James that the Fireworks cruise was a bit overpriced for what it was, however the food was good and there was plenty of it. The worst part was waiting like sheep at the gates to be let on to the wharf and then having to find our way down the poorly lit pathway under the wharf to the boats. There was the very real possibilty that someone could have tripped and hurt themselves and the organisers would have been totally to blame. I hope the procedures improve next year.

I though that the Hero looked great compared to the last time I saw her - easily the most glamorous boat in Echuca (or on the whole river!). I wonder how much of the original Hero is part of the structure.

On the way home we stopped at Swan Hill to see the Gem. It looks as if there is still a lot of work to do before she is mobile again, but she will be a magnificent sight to see steaming. However, with the current river level nobody will be going anywhere soon. The sill at the Torrumbarry lock was dry and there was an exposed reef across most of the river at Tooleybuc.

Stephen.
Adelaide.

[paddlesteamerman1]

Welcome Stephen! Great to hear from you!
I am sure that we would have bumped into each other at some stage during the weekend, as I was "trainee engineer" on the Pevensey Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday night fireworks cruise and on Sunday for a little bit, but, unfortunately I am not so good with remembering names  : Were you on the Pevensey cruise in which we had an exciting 'drag' race with the Emmylou?? That was quite fun, we were overtaking her but I dont think they took kindly to that so they sped up a lot and then so did we - mind you we did win and it was a lot of fun engineering that little stretch  
Yes, the Hero does look fabulous, but not much of it is original, a portion of the hull was the only remains (IIRC) and I (personally) dont believe that she looks like she did originally after seeing numerous photos of her original state - but still agree that she does look magnificent
And, I do quite the opposite to you - I travel reguarly to Adelaide and surrounds at least 6-7 times. I will be next over in SA (for Paddlesteamer purposes) on the 24-27th January as 'trainee engineer' aboard the PS Marion.
Yes, last time I was at Torrumbarry it was dreadfully low on the downstream side, but evidently it is now much much worse (which is a horrible thought).

[Murray Whaler]

When I was at Wentworth for the Junction Rally I set out to find the wreck of the P.S. Rodney which was burnt and sunk on the Darling River in August 1894 during the shearers strike.     It is about 40 kilometers  north of Pooncarie on Polia Station.      You need to drive through the homestead, turn left for 8.2 km.   There is barely a track, the ground is flat consisting of fine silt.  I mention this because it could be very slipper with very little moisture.     There is not a lot left after the fire and one hundred years but I thought the trip was worth it.   Anyone going there should get the tourist people in Wemtworth to give Polia a ring to get the ok to go onto the property

[Roderick Smith]

Morgan was South Australia's equivalent to Victoria's Echuca.
The wharf was built in the late 1870s, and was designed to cope with huge variations in the river level.  This was in the era before river control via weirs with locks.  The wharf was connected to Adelaide by railway.  Morgan overtook Goolwa as the principal river port in SA: export produce river to rail, supplies for river towns rail to river.  There was also passenger movement, with regular schedules from Morgan to Renmark (connecting to Mildura and Swan Hill).  Later, railways reached other river towns: Waikerie, Loxton and Renmark (where the line crossed the river on a lifting-span rail & road bridge, and continued via Berri to Barmera).
In the 1920s and 1930s, Morgan was a base for river cruising.  Some excellent scenes are in the video 'Riverboats remembered'.

Today the railway has been closed; some structures and equipment have been preserved.  The wharf has been shortened.  PV Murray Princess does not tie up at the wharf, but at a low-height mooring just downstream of the wharf.  A photo of PS Marion at that mooring is in one of the APAM threads.

This photo was taken from my Jessie II 4 days ago.  With the interest in the Echuca wharf photo, I thought that I would put this wharf on line too.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[paddlesteamerman1]

It is a pity that they dont do something with it, instead of just leaving it there. Is it structurally sound? If not, it would take a lot of money to repair. It is a really nice old wharf though.

[Roderick Smith]

Here is another photo of the surviving portion of Morgan wharf.  PS Marion is moored at the low-level bollards normally used by SWPV Murray Princess, and gives a sense of scale for the height of the wharf.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor