Houseboat on the Murray

Patrick Smith spends a leisurely weekend afloat on Australia’s greatest waterway.

Our last night on the Murray River was the sweetest: dining on our houseboat’s open top deck in the warmth of a late-summer evening as the glassy water mirrored the last colours of the day.















It was Sunday night and we’d been on the river since Friday after arriving in Adelaide on the direct morning flight from Auckland. We’d picked up a rental car at the airport and driven straight to the fabulous Adelaide Central Market to buy provisions for our weekend on the river: crusty Italian bread, McLaren Vale olives, aromatic cheeses, thick Greek yogurt topped with blueberries, smoked trout, dips, nuts, fresh tuna and succulent beef steaks, pasta, freshly roasted coffee and a lavish assortment of fruits and salad stuffs. We added a couple of bottles of South Australian wine and a six-pack of beer and then hit the road to Mannum, where our houseboat awaited.















Mannum, around 75 minutes by car from Adelaide, sits beside the river 150km from the mouth of the Murray, which empties into Lake Alexandrina before spilling out into the Southern Ocean. The town has long been a centre for river-based activities and the Mannum Dock Museum tells stories of the paddle steamers which once serviced the Murray-Darling Basin. The old paddle steamer PS Marion still plies the river for day trips, or you can take longer cruises on the big PS Murray Princess or MV Murray Expedition.















We, however, would be captains of our own craft – a smart, three-bedroomed houseboat which we found at Unforgettable Houseboats’ moorings.

Mark Flanagan, who manages the houseboat company with his wife Lee-Anne, gave us the rundown on Unforgettable 7, our weekend home, from the big, shiny steering wheel at the front to the spa bath-with-a-view in the stern. In between was a comfortable lounge with TV, DVD and stereo, a dining area, a well-equipped kitchen and the bedrooms.

Mark took us through emergency procedures and taught us how to start, reverse and drive the thing – which was surprisingly easy – and how to moor it with ropes tied to trees and other handy riverside objects.

 

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At 18m long, the boat responded slowly to steering commands, but we soon had its measure. Mark stayed aboard for a while as we headed upriver, then hopped off into a dinghy and wished us bon voyage.

“You’ll come back so relaxed,” he assured us. “It’s an authentic Aussie bush camping expedition, in comfort. It’s a journey … that’s what we’re all about, experiencing the journey.”

At 2,756km in length, the Murray is the third-longest navigable river in the world, but also the slowest, which is perfect for houseboating. In places it’s wide, with flat banks and scrubby trees; in others it slides beneath towering red cliffs. Every two kilometres, signs along the bank mark distances from the river mouth.

On the Friday night we stopped at the 170km mark; 20km from our starting point. Gee nosed her into the bank and I leapt off to tie up. We had a swim then fired up the barbecue on the front deck and cooked our dinner, washing seared tuna steaks down with a bottle of Adelaide Hills Viognier.

We fell asleep that night to the gentle swaying of the boat between its mooring ropes.

Next morning we breakfasted on fresh fruit and yogurt as sunshine bounced off the water and rippled across the ceiling. Galahs set up a racket in a nearby tree and ducks flopped up on to the boat expecting a handout.

Houseboating on the Murray River

That day we took turns at the wheel as we cruised slowly (7-8km/h) upriver past small communities of “shacks” (baches), lazy weeping willows and stark gums, dried-up swamps, scrubby flats and dramatic cliffs. We pulled in for lunch, then carried on to the 194km mark – 44km from Mannum.

Here we turned around and found a mooring for the night 12km downstream, directly across the river from a line of red cliffs which changed colour as the sun went down and the kookaburras began their hysterical evening discourse.

Sunday dawned very hot and still. The sun crept along the cliff-face. Great black crows hopped aboard and cormorants, swans, ducks and a pelican drifted by. We stayed put that morning, reading, dozing and trying to ignore the speedboats and water-sporters from a nearby settlement.















After lunch we moved on. We had plans to spend our last night within two hours of Mannum, where we had to disembark by 10am. While Gee steered, I lolled in the bow with a cold beer at hand and a hot breeze in my face as the Murray slid by.

We found a secluded mooring. So there we were, toasting our last, spectacular, night on the river. Could life get any better?

As it turned out, the following morning was an absolute mind-blower. We woke early with a new moon hanging over the river. Then the sky began to lighten and we watched awe-struck as the rising sun put on a psychedelic show across a bank of high cloud. When we looked down at the river, a pelican had drifted silently alongside, tinted pale pink by the sunrise.















Story and pictures by Patrick Smith. Reproduced from Weekend & Short Breaks magazine.

Patrick is a NZ-based journalist and travel writer. He is editor of Weekend & Short Breaks, an Auckland-based lifestyle and travel magazine. Email: editorial@xtra.co.nz

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Fact File

Getting There

Air New Zealand flies direct to Adelaide four times a week (seasonal), leaving Auckland at 8.20am. Return flights leave Adelaide at 11.35am. See www.airnewzealand.co.nz or ph. 0800 737 000.

Mannum is about 75 minutes from Adelaide via the Adelaide Hills or Murray Bridge. Hire a car (Unforgettable provides free lock-up parking) or arrange transfers with your houseboat provider.

Houseboating

Houseboats can accommodate from two to 12 people; the more people, the cheaper the holiday. Unforgettable is the largest houseboat operator, with almost a dozen boats of  from three to six bedrooms. You can pre-order provisions, arrange onboard catering and pre-book optional tours. Canoes, ski boats and dinghies can also be hired.

More Info

www.murraylands.info
www.houseboats.com.au
www.adelaidecentralmarket.com.au
www.southaustralia.co.nz

The Murray River

 

Published 9th Apr 2010

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