MANNUM RIVER FESTIVAL, home of the PS MARION: on the River Murray in the Murraylands Region of SA
This weekend those lucky enough to be on board one of the Centenary of Federation Cruises down the Murray will take in the sweep of the magnificent cliffs at Akuna Station near Overland Corner.
And no doubt Akuna's owner, Peter Teakle will take his beloved “Amphibious” out for a run along some of the most spectacular reaches of our longest river.
As part of the Source to Seas event a flotilla of rivercraft is travelling down the Murray, having set off from Mildura earlier this month, bound for Goolwa.
It's all about reliving the glories of the riverboat days when grand old ladies like the PS Marion were vital to trade across three States.
“If you ever needed proof of the wealth generated by the river trade, then the PS Marion is it. It was built in 1897 at Milang for an Adelaide merchant, George Fowler, as his personal pleasure craft. Unfortunately, he died before its completion and then the Marion took up service on the Darling as a cargo vessel.”
At the time of Fowler's death, the top decks had yet to be built and so the Marion began her days as a humble barge.
“In the early 1900 she was towed up to Echuca and there she has her engine installed in the bowels of the boat and they put a top deck on her and a wheel house and she started her life then as a trading boat.”
If any vessel deserves to be a part of the Source to Sea celebrations then it's the PS Marion. Over the past one hundred and four years she has carried loads of wool from stations as far up as Echuca in Victoria, through to Mildura, Wentworth and all the way to Goolwa.
And for the tourists, the blowdown, in which the stockers clear the boiler, is as spectacular today as it was when the legendary skipper Bill Drage plied the Murray's waters in the 30s and 40s.
By then she'd also taken on a new role as a passenger vessel.
“Some years later on they put on the third deck, which is where we are standing now in the wheelhouse and added more cabins to her and did away with the trading exercise and turned her into a totally passenger vessel and yes we've spent well over a hundred thousand man and woman hours restoring her back to the grand lady that you see today”.
Sadly, by the 50's and 60's, the Marion had fallen on hard times, reduced to a broken down old boarding house on the banks at Berri.
But, in the late 80's the Mannum community got together to breathe new life into the old Marshall engine and now the PS Marion is again gathering a full head of steam as she takes tourists on regular runs up and down the Murray. You can take part in the Source to Sea program in late September when the Marion will conduct cruises with the rest of the fleet.
Mannum River Festival - Saturday 22nd September - Sunday 23rd September. Cruises available Sunday 23rd September and Monday 24th September.
Contact: Mannum Visitor Information Centre on 8569 1303 or please email info@postcards-sa.com.au if you have any further questions.
