Steaming Down The River
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday June 13, 1997
Paddle-steamer Cumberoona
Location: Murray River, Albury
Category: Significant regional attractions
IN THE early 1970s, Gough Whitlam dreamt of a truly decentralised Australia where, rather than clinging to the coast, vast numbers of people would decamp to prosperous, culturally exciting inland cities. Central to this dream was Albury-Wodonga. It was to become a thriving metropolis sitting on both sides of the Murray and a symbol of unprecedented co-operation between NSW and Victoria. A new kind of national city.
These days, with Albury less than six hours by road from Sydney and only three hours from Melbourne, it has become a city where travellers grab a quick nibble and fill up their tanks before screaming off to their destination.
The city has its charm. There are handsome public buildings in the main street, the railway station is splendid, the river parks are attractive and the views are impressive. But none of these "attractions" was powerful enough to halt the speeding tourist.
Thus it was, as part of the Bicentenary, the people of Albury decided to build a paddle-steamer - yes, a genuine steam-driven one. Not only did they want to evoke memories of the once-thriving commerce along the Murray, they wanted a very special attraction to bring in the tourists. Paddle-steamers plied both the Darling and the Murray for most of last century and were the river towns' links with the rest of the world.
They are still an ideal way of seeing the Murray and the PS Cumberoona offers as many as five hour-long cruises a day during the school holidays.
The PS Cumberoona was built from scratch. It is not a revitalised old paddle-steamer but a careful re-creation built with local sponsorship, volunteer labour, a Federal shipbuilding bounty and a State Bicentennial grant.
To appeal to the serious steam buffs (and there are those who will not travel on a paddle-steamer unless it is exclusively powered by steam) a rusty old Buffalo Pitts 1908 twin-cylinder, double-acting, high-press steam engine (yes, I don't know what they're talking about either) was lovingly restored to drive the paddles.
The crew consists of a captain (everyone is welcome in his large cabin), a purser and an engineer, all of whom are eager to show visitors how the steamer works.
The PS Cumberoona competes with numerous cruises offered further downstream at Echuca, Moama, Swan Hill and Mildura, so it's not surprising to find that friendly high-quality service marks the whole undertaking.
Certainly, because it moves through a more settled area, the views from the vessel are more varied than the monotony of muddy banks and river gums which characterise the cruises out of Echuca.
Contact: (060) 415558
© 1997 Sydney Morning Herald
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