Wooden Boat Festival 2009: Ron takes to the waters of the Coorong in the Fleurieu Peninsula region of South Australia

The Coorong is a wetland of international significance, one which attracts birds from around Australia and the globe. And it's a wildlife habitat dear to many moviegoers thanks to the stunning scenery of the Coorong and a central character, Mr Percival, who made his big screen debut more than thirty years ago.

The impact of "Stormboy" - the SA Film Corporation's adaptation of Colin Thiele's famous novel - still lives on today. Step inside the South Coast Regional Art Centre at Goolwa and the "Recollecting Storm Boy" exhibition pays homage to a film and book burnt deep into the South Australian psyche.

And not far away on the banks of the water-starved Murray, a group of Goolwa locals at the historic Armfield Slipway are doing their bit to celebrate another non-speaking role in a movie that put this part of South Australia on the map.

The boys at Armfield are restoring "The Hideaway" - the fishing boat that flickered through so many frames in a movie that still swells the hearts of those who love the Murray and the Coorong.

For many years The Hideaway lived up to its name, hidden away on a bank of the River near Mannum. By the time the crew at Armfield got their hands on her, she was in a terrible state. In the historic shed - in which boats have been built and maintained for nearly a century - the lads do what they do best. Like a team of surgeons, these lovers of all things wooden bring to life a long forgotten chapter of the Stormboy story.

Mike Adams, Armfield Slip: "Wood is a living material you know. It's got grain and there's an art to working with it. I think though really we're just working on a boat. A wooden boat is more the attraction. In a way the fact that it is an icon is almost a pain because we get more people wandering in."

Armfield Slip has been home to a host of maritime reincarnations. In the past many were rolled down to the water on rails to the river. Some, on the original slipway track - made of recycled cross timbers which Rick Eylward believe may have come from Australia's first public railway line linking Goolwa and Port Elliot. Now thanks to the drought, the line is high and dry but that won't stop the crew at Armfield when they'll fire up a selection of their volunteer-maintained flotilla.

That includes the "Lotus" - the hull of which was originally built at Goolwa in 1910. It ended up the river at Chowilla Homestead, north of Renmark where the Robertson family made a few interesting additions. That includes an Argyle car engine. That's since been replaced - but reminders of its Argyle days are still on show like the steering wheel and gear stick.

Inside the Lotus historic photos point to a very different time on the Murray - when the ladies of Chowilla Station - dressed in their long dresses and took time out for afternoon tea on the banks of the River.

For many years that's where the "Lotus" would slowly rot until her four-year transformation at Armfield Slip courtesy of Rick Eylward and all the boys who all have a simple explanation for their wooden boat building passion. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au

Rick Eylward, Armfield Slip: "They breathe. They are alive."

South Australian Wooden Boat & Music Festival
Goolwa Wharf
March 7 - 9
Tickets 8555 7240

"Recollecting Storm Boy" Art Exhibition
Old Police Station, Goolwa

Published 1st March 2009