Morgan Museum & Foxtail Houseboats: Ron rumages around the collection in the Riverland region of South Australia after arriving by houseboat.
Take time out to enjoy the river on one of Michael Butson's Foxtail Houseboats and you soon realise that despite all the modcons like plasma TVs and the like, the skipper still needs a decent map.
In the boatie's river bible - the River Murray Pilot - a succession of river travellers have painstakingly added to our knowledge of this ancient waterway, so that now the houseboat skipper can rest a easy - which is a lot more than could be said for the earliest paddlesteamer captains. For them, the river was a never-ending test of nerves and navigational skill.
There was never any guarantee of a hassle free trip. Changing river levels, shifting sandbars and new snags all added to the drama of a trip up or down river. And so any river captain needed an up-to-date and accurate river chart.
Inside the old Landseer Building at Morgan hangs one of the original river charts - or to be more precise a cloth scroll on which every hazard was duly recorded.
The skipper merely scrolled up or down river, negotiating every bend. The stains are proof the elements often found their way into the wheelhouse as captains of vessels like the Marion plied the waters of the Murray. The PS Marion was built at Milang by the same people who built the Landseer Building at Morgan, which once housed wool, flour and anything else produced along the Murray. The building is proof that whatever the Landseer's made - it was made to last. Today this landmark provides a lasting legacy of life on the river and the many paddlesteamers, which are an integral part of its history.
Some of the paddlesteamers still survive to this very day like the PS Adelaide, which operates from the Port of Echuca. It's the oldest wooden paddlesteamer in the world. If you can't make it to Echuca, the Morgan Museum's model, with its potted history, will bring you up to speed on this slow moving marvel of the Murray.
John Lindner, Morgan Museum: "The big thing was the paddlesteamers and then the rail had to come in because there was competition from Victoria."
Victoria managed to cream off a lot of river trade with a rail link from Echuca to Melbourne. The South Australian Government was eventually forced to act with the construction of a rail link from Morgan to Adelaide in 1878.
There were six trains a day and was a turning point for the State's economic fortunes. It also underlined just how important Morgan would continue to be to the economic development of South Australia.
Not far upstream stands the pumphouse for one of the State's engineering marvels - the Morgan to Whyalla Pipeline. Water pumped from here was vital to the expansion of the Iron Triangle. With a power station at Port Augusta and shipyards and steelworks at Whyalla came the transformation of South Australia from a rural-based economy to an industrial power.
Whether it's transporting water to the Yorke and Eyre Peninsulas or produce from upstream to Adelaide, Morgan has long been a transport hub. From the days when the old Morphett Taxi service ran cabs from the Railway station to nearby Riverland towns and later when Pendle's bus service did likewise, the movement of people and goods has always been a part of Morgan's story. And this town and its ferry have moved some amazing things including the occasional elephant.
Browse through the museum, a repository of the weird and the wonderful and you'll stumble across truly amazing details of travel and transportation.
Like the story of the Decoy. Built in Scotland, she eventually found herself plying the South Australian waters of the Murrray before embarking on one of the most amazing journeys ever undertaken by a paddlesteamer.
John Seaton, Morgan Museum: "She operated for a little while on the river and then gold was discovered in Western Australia. The gold diggers chartered it to sail across the Great Australian Bight, which was quite an achievement in those days. It sailed from Port Adelaide."
What a sight it must have been - a paddlewheeler sailing passed the Bunda Cliffs on the way to Perth. The story of the Decoy is just one of many ripping yarns to be uncovered in the Morgan Museum. Just look for the impressive Landseer Building near the ferry crossing. It's open daily.
For a trip up or down river from Morgan contact Foxtail Houseboats on (08) 8540 2378. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au
Morgan Museum Historic Landseer Building
Just up from Ferry Crossing
Open DailyFoxtail Houseboats
Ph (08)8540 2378Published 13th September 2009
