3rd to 4th April - Echuca

Located on the banks of the mighty Murray River, the twin towns of Echuca Moama are the closest point of the Murray to Melbourne – just a 2 ½ hour drive.  This is Australia’s Paddlesteamer capital.  Echuca and Moama were founded by ex-convicts James Maiden (founded Moama 1845) and Henry Hopwood (founded Echuca 1953).  They had rival punts which forged the towns’ links.  It was Hopwood’s suggestion of forming a river port which formed the basis of the river trade.  

A thong tree by the Murray

PS Emmylou on the muddy Murray

The steam engine, goes through a bit of wood

These days the river is most popular for house boats, ski boats and fishing

Cruising the Murray

Echuca soon became Australia’s largest inland port and was the main ship building centre for the river transport industry for many years, catering for a growing demand for red gum for wharf piles, railway sleepers and building materials.  These days these towns represent a bygone era with horse drawn carriages and blacksmiths, with several Paddlesteamers still in operation offering day cruises and some overnight cruises.

The Historic Port of Echuca



Red Gum Log Buggy 1870 - drawn by bullock teams

Along the port is a blacksmith, cellar doors, wood turners, hotels etc.    Here is my Darl sampling some port, we were nearly tempted to buy a port barrel.....

This 2 storey building with 6 small rooms built in about 1870 is the only classified brothel in Victoria.   The upper rooms were reached by staircase leading into nearby Little Hopwood Street, where even well to do citizens could access the scarlet ladies undetected.  The nearby Murray Hotel was built in 1879 and then run in conjunction with the brothel.  The pub became known for it's honky tonk dancing and immorality.

We enjoyed a lunch cruise on the PS Emmylou, the “prettiest paddlesteamer on the Murray River”, it is the only wood-fired paddlesteamer in the world to offer regular overnight cruises.  We took the treddlies out for a spin, down by the Camaspe River banks, back into town and over the bridge into NSW – Moama for lunch.    We tried to book somewhere near Glenrowan or Wangaratta for a couple days over Easter but no luck all booked out – we tracked down Geoff, we met in Weipa, he and his wife Heather (lovely lady) have a 100 acre farm near Wang….. We can camp there for a few days, fantastic!

My Darl was very happy to discover that Echuca is the home of the National Holden Museum.  This is the only one brand museum in Australia.

The old and the new compared, a good view of the changes to the holdens over the years.   All vehicles on display are on loan and are rotated regularly so it is ever changing.  

Bridge over the Murray - Moama to Echuca

A walk bridge over the Camaspe River