Road to Renmark.

[Barry]

My wife and I are on the way to Renmark for the PS Industry centenary. Some paddler photos of the trip so far. Taken at Swan Hill. Mildura tomorrow.

[Barry]

A few more photos from Swan Hill and some on the way to Mildura. The bridge at swan Hill is closed to river trafic for repairs. The river is still high and there are signs of the recent flooding. Other news is that the Ruby has left Wentworth for Renmark.

[Barry]

PS Melbourne at Mildura going around Lock 11. Lock 10 at Wentworth is being by passed as well. The water level appears to be still up. Half the park at the Murray Darling Junction is still under water. Saw Jessie II at the Wentworth caravan park, but no sign of the owner.

[Barry]

Went to 'Riverboat Rods' shop/museum in Wentworth but all his models [24 of them] had been packed up to take to Renmark. Will post some photos of them on the weekend, all going well as the internet is very patchy around here. Trips on the Melbourne and Rothbury today.

[Barry]

Back from the internet doldrums. Spend most of the day on the river. Did the morning cruise on the Rothbury. She's steam powered. Saw a few other paddlers on the river. The Avoca is up for sale $400,000 apparently. 
Did the evening dinner cruise on the Melbourne. Lovely spit roast on the river, what more could you want? Being on the river at night adds another dimension to it.

[Barry]

Friday saw the arrival of the Ruby to Renmark accompanied by the sounds of Roderick playing the Pianola. The weather was perfect all weekend with not a cloud in the sky and the temperature in the mid to high 20˚C’s.
The Birthday girl and Ruby did several cruises each day. The Industry’s crew serving up fresh scones and jam each cruise. There where several paddler parades over the weekend and on Saturday night a fairy light parade.
On the shore next to the river there was a display of models and photos. ‘Riverboat Rod’ had all 24 of his models there as well as many others. If you visit Wentworth Rod’s shop/museum is well worth a visit.
The food, the wine and hospitality all helped make it a fantastic weekend. The next big event that I know of on the river is the Pevenseys centenary at Echuca in July. Why not come and have a look?

[Barry]

Some more photos.

[stephenf10]

...
There where several paddler parades over the weekend and on Saturday night a fairy light parade.
...

Saturday night's events were probably the lowlight of the weekend. The advertised "Fairy light parade of all boats" consisted of ... the Industry. The James Maiden and William Albert made an effort by steaming up and down the riverfront but the crowd was less than impressed and I heard many "waste of time" comments from the crowd. The advertised river front entertainment was nowhere to be seen. Maybe they meant the possums?

Apart from that, it was a good weekend despite the absence of the Oscar W and Marion. A highlight for me was watching the Ruby make a huge skidding turn at the caravan park each time before heading back upstream towards town.

Now we're off to Morgan to catch up with the Oscar and Marion.

Stephen.

[Roderick Smith]

PS Ruby was never going to be in the fairylight parade: Captain Wagner didn't want to mow down smaller craft.
A lot of others didn't appear because the crews were at the late-running dinner at the hotel.
I arrived an hour late, and the soup had not yet been served.

In Barry's photo captions, PV Rothbury is diesel, not steam.  That compound engine is in PS Melbourne.
The side-wheel houseboat is PV Yarrara.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[Barry]

PV Rothbury is diesel, not steam.

Whoops.

[stephenf10]

We arrived at Morgan yesterday (Friday) and watched the Oscar W doing short trips, then the Marion arriving from Blanchetown. Today we did the five-hour trip on the Oscar from Morgan upstream towards Lock 2 and return. The amount of water in the Murray and stretching into the backwaters was amazing. Several riverside picnic shelters had only the roofs showing. The watermark on the trees and shoreline shows that the river has receded about a foot from peak height and should continue to fall now that the high water peak has passed into the lower lakes.

We passed the small paddler Kingfisher heading towards Morgan and the Jumbuk and Gypsy Ellen moored. The Gypsy Ellen looked a bit sad and could do with some tlc. Light rain commenced near Cadell on the return leg but the wet weather covers kept us (mostly) dry.

The Oscar passed through Morgan and rounded up just beyond the town for an upstream approach to a position beside the Marion. It was an enjoyable trip for both being on the Oscar and seeing the state of the river but probably an hour or so too long given the hard seats!

Stephen.

[Roderick Smith]

Will 'Road from Renmark' (ie the Morgan coverage) be appearing soon?

Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[Barry]

Unfortunately that's all there was time for  We had to head home on Monday as I started a new job. I do want to do the rest of the river hopefully in the not to distant future. In the mean time some photos of the models at Remmark.

[Barry]

 

[Barry]