Murray Princess: In the Riverland region of South Australia

Dawn over the River Murray is a special time but it's even more spectacular when the grand dame of the river, the Murray Princess, gently rumbles to life and eases into another day cruising the expansive beauty of this twisting and kinking lifeline.

The Murray Princess is registered in Mannum, the historic port where the romance of the riverboat trade began. Captain Randell built the very first Murray paddlesteamer a century and a half ago.

Step on board its modern day descendant and you're a world away from the noisome stress of the city.

Weighing in at 15-hundred tonnes, the handsome paddlewheeler was built at Goolwa by legendary Dutch born shipbuilder, the late Keith Veenstra back in 1986.

Based on the "Mississippi" style riverboat, she carries 120 passengers in 60 cabins and staterooms. She's now part of the nationwide Captain Cook Cruise fleet.

As with any cruise ship there's a strong social program as we found out when we stumbled across a wine and food tasting session. It was being run by Shane Davies, who's one of the happiest people on board - as cruise director he's paid to be! He runs all the entertainment so if you put on a couple of kilos, with his help you can take them off again at one of his exercise sessions.

But none of the activities are compulsory so if you prefer to sit back and simply watch the gum trees go by, read a book or catch a snooze - there's plenty of time for that too.

The Princess is under the command of Captain Tony Curtis. After years of plotting the course of big sailing ships across distant horizons and the expanse of the wide open sea, now he's never far from snags, sandbanks and ancient, golden cliffs.

"This area's about 35 million years old," he explained to his passengers in his commentary. "You'll notice that we've always got the cliffs on one side, and we've got the undulating hills on the other side - that's the extent of the Murray River gorge. We're in the trickle in the middle - what they call the drain."

Some drain! It slowly snakes through an arid plain - the limestone cliffs loom left - then right - they're always there. From the wheelhouse, it's a view First Officer, Peter Hunter never tires of.

"These are known as the Manunka Cliffs they were named after the Manunka Aboriginal tribe and they are probably my favourite because they are so sheer and tall…" As the Princess glides along at a stately 10 kilometres an hour there's plenty of time take it all in. And all the while, there are reminders of the river's fragile but vital legacy.

"This is a very special spot because we've got the cliffs on one side and the wetlands on the other," explained Peter. "The wetlands, of course is where it all starts, it's the ecology of the river - all the baby fish are born there and the birds are born there. There are 27 different native species of fish along the Murray and 250 different native special of birds…"

If it's the rarely visited floodplain and lagoon wilderness that fascinates you, the crew is happy to get you ashore for a personalised expedition aboard the service boat.

Peter guides his passengers towards a stand of trees on the bank which takes us back to the days when the Murray was the highway into Victoria and New South Wales. It linked three states and carried thousands of steam-powered riverboats all with ferocious appetites for wood for their boilers.

"If you can imagine being out here cutting these trees down and getting a shilling ton. It was really hard work," said Peter. "If you wanted to go a little quicker, get a little quicker head of steam you would use the black boxes. They would burn a lot hotter than the river redgums."

The Murray Princess crew can also get you into the night. They work closely with local operators like David Le Brun of Sunnydale farm near Swan Reach. He'll give you a classic Aussie experience dodging the potholes in search of the Southern Hairy-nosed wombats that tunnel their way through the mallee.

Back on board - another day and another passing parade of the wonders of the Murray. Tough assignment - but someone has to do it!

The PS Murray Princess is part of Captain Cook Cruises. She sails out of Mannum and offers a range of options both upstream and downstream ranging from a couple of days to seven nights.

Call them on 1800 804 843.

Murray Princess
Captain Cook Cruises
Ph 1800 804 843