All Aboard As Cumberoona Takes A Paddle In The River
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday March 2, 1987
With a whistle and a puff of smoke, the Cumberoona has brought the romance of paddle steamers back to the upper Murray River.
The Cumberoona, a new boat modelled on a paddle steamer of that name which carried wool and wheat on the river in the 1860s and 70s, is the only vessel built at Albury.
The boat is the first community Bicentennial project completed in the State. The NSW Bicentennial Council provided $360,000 towards its $840,000 cost.
The Premier officially opened the boat's tourist operations at a ceremony in Albury on Saturday.
The Cumberoona has attracted a crew of paddle steamer enthusiasts to Albury to take part in the revival of the riverboat trade.
The steamer's captain and manager of the Upper Murray Steamship Company, Frank Tucker, 39, is a former school-teacher. His interest in the paddle steamer era began at Swan Hill, where he was posted as a teacher.
Now he has probably the largest private collection of paddle steamer photos and records in Australia. His collection numbers about 4,000.
The Cumberoona's engineer, Stephen Bremmer, 29, swapped supertankers in Britain's merchant navy for a sailor's life on the Murray River.
Born in Cooma, he spent 20 years in Scotland, and speaks with a Scottish accent.
"The last supertanker I was on was 327,000 tonnes, and about half-a-kilometre long," he said. "It's a bit strange sometimes to find myself on the Cumberoona."
The paddle steamer is 90 tonnes and 25.2 metres long.
Cumberoona's deckhand, Adrian Summers, 24, gave up his job as a farm machinery mechanic in Albury.
"I love the life," he said. "It's a beautiful stretch of the river. The banks are lined with huge red gums, and the water is alive with pelicans, ducks and other birds. Often we see platypus near the banks."
The co-captain, Shane Till, 30, is a former motor cycle mechanic from Melbourne. He obtained his skipper's certificate after a 2 1/2-year apprenticeship on paddle steamers at Swan Hill.
"I've found my vocation in life, even though it means working every day of the week and most nights," he said.
Captain Tucker said that between 1855 and 1870, Albury was the main port of the upper river paddle steamer trade.
The first steamer, the Albury, arrived in 1855. The original Cumberoona was built in 1866, and sank on the Darling River near Wilcannia in 1889.
About 25 paddle steamers, most of them restored, now operate tourist trips on the river.
The Cumberoona, which was launched last year, has been running tourist cruises three times a day along the river, as well as running night trips for parties and weddings. Tourists come from Sydney, Melbourne and local towns, as well as overseas.
The chairman of the Upper Murray Steamship Company, Mr Bill Cross, said more than 150 volunteers had worked on building the steamer.
"This is a magnificent part of the river which many Albury locals have seen for the first time on the Cumberoona," he said.
© 1987 Sydney Morning Herald
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