RS Baker in the Hindmarsh Island Marina: Lisa visits the Fleurieu Peninsula region of South Australia
Early morning at the Marina Hindmarsh Island and we're getting ready for a very special trip - the maiden voyage of the newly refitted RS Baker.
Soon, we're cruising the waters of the Marina, which is home to about five hundred people over a busy holiday weekend. Some are permanent residents; others are weekenders who come for a bit of one-on-one therapy with the locals.
The Hindmarsh Island Marina is still a work in progress and every so often you'll hear the nail-guns banging away on yet another prime piece of waterfront real estate.
"It's been built in stages from 1984," explained Andrew Chapman. "We're up to stage seven currently with three more stages to go. We'll eventually have around 1,200 waterfront homes."
On board the RS Baker we head into one waterway after another all fed by the Murray which envelops the entire project. But it's not until you get an aerial perspective that you realise the scope of the Chapman family's long held vision for this part of Hindmarsh Island. It's been transformed into a maze of lagoons and man made islands.
"We have two entrances into the development, one in front of the waterfront restaurant and one at the entrance to the main residential lagoon," said Andrew. "Boats can come in, meander through about fifteen kilometres of waterway and back out the other end.
"The design of the whole marina, which is the largest freshwater marina in the Southern Hemisphere is to encourage bird habitats. We've created islands in each of the lagoons. "
The day we dropped in, the usual suspects had gathered - an ibis here, a couple of pelicans there and occasionally a swan or two.
The pace around here is slow... and there's no better way to experience it than on board the RS Baker. Named after Roy Sutton Baker, one of the vessel's original shipwrights, it came into service with the SA Marine and Harbours Board in 1952 as a pilot vessel.
For many years she plied the waters of South Australia checking on lighthouses and life buoys. She was also involved in the search and rescue of the ill-fated trading ketch, Milford Crouch off the cost of Cowell on Eyre Peninsula in 1959. From Althorpe Island near Yorke Peninsula to places like Cape Willoughby on Kangaroo Island - this sturdy wooden vessel has seen it all. However, the boat looked a bit worse for wear when the owners of the marina laid eyes on it back in 2001. But following a substantial refit the RS Baker now cuts a pretty mean figure as she slices through open waters of the Goolwa Lakes system - a place the late Roy Sutton Baker knew well.
"Old Roy got his engineering certificate working on the PS Mannum and other paddlesteamers on the River Murray," said Andrew. "So it's only fitting that this vessel which bears his name should be here plying the waters of the River Murray."
Soon we're passing the historic Goolwa wharf, where the paddewheeler, "Oscar W" harks back to a time when this port was one of the busiest in the country.
"In the late 1800s it was the Mississippi of the south. There were hundreds of men employed here in the boat and ship building industry. The number of barges and paddlesteamers built here is quite incredible. Within our development we've named all of the street names after a paddlesteamer or a barge that was built here in Goolwa."
A host of Club Marina accommodation specials are on offer. With uninterrupted views of the marina and every available mod con, it's a great way to end the day.
For details contact the Marina Hindmarsh Island. They'll also book you on the RS Baker for you're little cruise around both the old and the new at the end of the Murray. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au
Marina Hindmarsh Island Club Marina accommodation packages & RS Baker tours
Bookings 8555 7300Published 30th July 2006
