Corowa on the Murray River: Keith continues his journey down the Murray River in the Riverland region of New South Wales
Above a sweeping bend of the River Murray about 600 kilometres from its source in the Australian High Country sits the heritage rich traditional Aussie country town of Corowa.
The John Foord bridge commemorates the entrepreneurial overlander who saw a quid in running as punt between Corowa on the NSW side of the river and the Victorian goldrush town of Wagunyah on the other.
The significant British lattice-truss bridge speaks of 19th century prosperity linking two communities. If only it were that simple.
The Wahgunyah Customs House is proof that it wasn't. If you think you could do with some tax relief now and then, spare a thought for the citizenry who lived on the Murray - that great winding divide between two separate colonies.
"The frustration they were finding at having to pay taxes every time they went across the border or took something across the border was the biggest problem," explained Beth Tidd of the Corowa Federation Museum. "To take sheep across the bridge they would pay a tax and if they took them across to sale and didn't sell them they had to pay to bring them back again."
Inside the Federation Museum at Corowa, Beth Tidd took us back to a time when the notion of a united Australia seemed a distant dream. The colonies were split over Free Trade and Protectionism, immigration and a host of other issues. Then in 1893, in the River Murray town of Corowa "people power" came to the fore as representatives gathered to thrash out a plan for Federation.
"They wanted one Australia - not the six colonies they had then," said Beth.
In the Corowa Court House, frustrated delegates from cross-river towns like these thrashed out a plan and at night retired to a classic Aussie pub where the 150 men partook of a 'cold collation' on the open balcony on the 31st of July.
You see the hotel as you come over the river from Victoria. The Globe Hotel was resplendent when it housed a lot of the guests for that big 1893 convention. And they would have loved the Premier of Victoria. He said "when a man who comes from here is regarded as a foreigner and a woman who goes to Wahgunyah is treated as a smuggler... Then it is time some change was made."
Corowa, the place they call the Birthplace of Federation got the ball rolling again by coming up with a plan that involved all the colonies' voters owning the idea because they were given the power to say "YES!"
The Murray River -the colonial border- a catalyst for change but it's also been one of the great constants for the Yorta Yorta people. Downstream, towards Echuca, I hopped on board a Kingfisher Cruise with aboriginal elder Colin Walker. He's a 72 year old Yorta Yorta man with a passion for one of the river's natural wonders - the vast Barmah State Forest.
"The river is a living thing to us - it's our blood line," said Colin. For him, the river is a sacred place, the work of a great creation being. "Biami - the old woman who came down through the hills dragging a stick. An old snake was following her and he kept following where she dragged her yam stick and then when she got to end of the river system down in this land it rained and rained and rained and that's how the river came down through here."
Along the way, we come across signs of the Yorta Yorta's occupation of this land like the outline of an aboriginal canoe carved from the bark of a redgum. Elsewhere we see the white man's impact on the land - dotted along the banks of the Barmah State Forest are the stumps of trees felled for paddle wheeler fuel, rail sleepers, wharf timbers near and far.
We marvel at some of the giant surviving redgums. Some are said to be 500 years old - that means it's there before Christopher Columbus sails and puts the Americas on the map. For all of us onboard the Kingfisher Cruise, the towering redgums emphasise the timeless quality of this country. There's tranquillity here - but not for the Murray. It flows remarkably quickly through the narrows - at about 7 kilometres an hour.
If you were to paddle its entire length through the Barmah Forest you would travel about 112 kilometre - the equivalent of going from Adelaide to the Clare Valley. It's a big forest covering nearly 300 square kilometres.
With Benita Cox at the wheel of the Kingfisher, we dodge snags as the river squeezes through what they call the Barmah Choke - the narrowest part of the entire Murray.
About 25,000 years ago a geological uplift blocked the Murray's course here, forcing a 500-kilometre detour that starts with this narrow escape route. But a big springtime snowmelt, the swollen river just won't fit so it spills over into an incredible flood plain as wide as 25 kilometres.
We're following a course once followed by the old sawmill servicing paddlesteamer, The Adelaide, an SA connection in this great woodland expanse on the Murray.
It is surely a special experience on the mighty Murray. To book a cruise through the Barmah State Forest, contact Kingfisher Cruises on (03) 5855 2855.
Upstream, at Corowa the Federation Museum is open on weekends, The Visitor Centre in the main street is open every day and there's a signposted Heritage walk you can do anytime! If you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au
Kingfisher Cruises Barmah Ph (03) 5855 2855.
Corowa Visitor Information Centre Free: 1800 814 054
Published 1st July 2007
