Paddle Steamer on the Murray

The Murray river runs through Echuca so we had to do a cruise down the river. We decided on the The Alexander Arbuthnot which was one of the last steamers built on the Murray River during the riverboat trade.

She was built at Koondrook in 1923 to tow barges carrying logs from the forest to the Arbuthnot Sawmills for some years until the 1940's when she was sold to charcoal producers in the Barmah Forest. During WW2 the PS Alexander Arbuthnot lay idle and in 1947 sank at her moorings. In 1972 she was raised by a group of Shepparton volunteers. The Alexander Arbuthnot was bought by the City of Echuca in 1989 for restoration at the Port.

We steamed up the Murray and back down for about an hour with NSW on one side and Vic on the other. It was another intertesting experience as the captain explained the history of the Murray back in the 1870's.

At the port there is also a discovery centre where you can get even more details about the paddle steamers and Henry Hopwood.Read more