Judy & Brian Tour Oz: Echuca Vic, Moama NSW, PS Canberra, National Holden Museum, FJ Holden

Echuca Vic, May 19 2015

Woke up to a drizzly grey sort of day and went straight back to sleep. Finally dragging ourselves out 'before noon' we headed into town with the intention of going to the National Holden Museum, but got as far as the end of the street when we got distracted by an old telegraph station and the original punt crossing of the Murray. The telegraph station turned out to be a private line which worked for a short time in the 1850s before being turned into a private residence for one of the river-boat captains.

Our caravan park is called Maidens Inn Holiday Park, and part from being huge (two parks combined) is right on the river. Right up one end are these 4 old stone columns topped with a plinth. One can only imagine this big hotel where the maidens of the district lived... The reality is that maiden refers to an ex-convict, James Maiden who established a punt across the Murray river in 1845 and built his inn on the bank next to it. The columns were the portico of the hotel, long since burnt down and gone. The man-made gully leading down the steep bank of the river and you can see the other track on the other side of the river. Apparently he made a fortune selling beef to the diggers heading to the goldfield, but died penniless in Bendigo.

By the time we made it into town we made a decision to take one more paddle-wheeler ride, this time on the PS Canberra, a decision that left us with only an hour before departure. We elected to have an early lunch at the Beechworth Bakery before heading back to Dock #2 and the waiting Canberra. The Canberra was built in 1913 (hence the name, it's when Canberra came into existence), and in 2013 celebrated its 100th year with a big refit and refurbishment.

PS Canberra. Echuca Vic

Marshall Steam engine, PS Canberra. Echuca Vic

We cruised up the river only far enough to hear all about the local boats and the Port of Echuca and its wharf, before heading back down the river to the winery to pick up some stragglers from lunch at the winery. On the way we passed a few of the old girls of the river

PS Emmylou. Echuca Vic

PS Pride of the Murray. Echuca Vic

PS Pevensey. Echuca Vic

We did actually make it into the National Holden Museum, which apart from an interesting, even if tongue-in-cheek, film featuring Graeme (Alvin Purple) Blundell and the first 25 years of Holden cars had a nice array of Holdens, FX and FJ's taking the pride of place. Oddly, they didn't have an EH, which is of course, the iconic Holden. They had this one odd display, where they had half an FJ up against a mirror, and a Commodore on the other side. Made for some odd photos. They also had a slot-car track, reputedly partly built by Peter Brock and which is supposed to resemble Mt Panorama at Bathurst (one needs an active imagination!)