Everyone here in Mildura says that "You got to take a paddle steamer and go see the Murray River. You haven't seen Mildura till you have a taken river cruise in one of these steamers."Well you know the old adage, "While in Rome, do what the Romans do."
So we head of to the Mildura Wharf. There are a number of paddle steamers we could take for the day; PS Rothbury, PS Mundoo, etc. However given our dinner plan for the day, we decided on the PS Melbourne cruise that goes through Lock 11, down the Murray River and then back up to the wharf. Roundtrip just above 2 hours.
PS Melbourne is one of Mildura's original steam driven paddle steamer. Originally built for the Victorian Government as a work boat in 1912. It was restored to a passenger carrying steamer in 1965.
Now, this smiling man with the black glasses and moustache is the engineer that keeps the boat steam engine running. Its quite a hot and noisy working environment but he seems to enjoy it very much."Not much to do." he says. "Just shovel in the coal and watch the pressure. Must watch the pressure. Always watch the pressure and all will be well.".
He seems to emphasize that a lot.
Web-site: http://www.paddlesteamers.com.au/
This video is of the PS Melbourne coming in to the Mildura Wharf to pick up the days' passenger/tourists. For speciall effects, you can hear the breeze blowing and the birds in the background.
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