The House Boat

The House Boat

 

Day 1

The time has come – meet at the shopping to centre to acquire the stores – head for the dockside berth to meet the “Sweet Indulgence” – impressed – more than impressed – surprised – three bedrooms – two bathrooms – dining – modern kitchen – huge upstairs deck complete with spa – modern – newish - luxurious in the style of moderns high quality caravans – this is a top end Winnebago of the water.

The briefing occurs – hard to describe it as a briefing – more precisely a rapidly delivered exercise in legal risk mitigation – a quick tour of the boat – this is this and that is that and this is how you turn this on and that off and don’t forget to………

All of a sudden we are on our way – the guide backs the boat out from the mooring – some gentle sideswipes of the other boats – into the swollen mainstream – worst I have even seen it says the guide! – Now I want you to park it – three tries – you are experts now – off you go!

Downstream we head towards the Darling – the three males try their hand at steering – initial nervousness quickly dissipates – an hour or so down the river the discussion of suitable berthing sites commence – finally one is selected – The mooring is approached with unfounded trepidation – the mooring is achieved with aplomb.

The sun sets over the river – wine is consumed – the little Eagles huge riverside nest sitting high in a red gum tree is admired and its custodians photographed, kites and kestrels announce the presence and two black swans cruise just above the water their white bellies skimming the water – they stop their slow wing movement and gently land on the water – they enjoy their floating speed as the river carries them down in the direction of Coorong.

Drink some more wine – tell more stories – adjourn to the back deck – look at the moon – receive a lesson in the detection of the waxing and waning moon – it is a waning moon says the expect – you can tell – it looks like a “d” – no it doesn’t says the students – it doesn’t look anything like a “d” – it look more like a “c” – you have to imagine a vertical line  - then it is a lowercase “d” says the teacher – still looks like a “c” to us says the students – no it a “d” so that is waning moon says the teacher – the students display their lack of faith – google is consulted – pictures show a waxing moon as a small “c” – the teacher is chastised – “you are wrong says he – google is showing you an article for the norther hemisphere – the wine has rendered the students propensity to argue with the teacher non-existent – who is right and who is wrong? – Who cares! - Peaceful – peaceful – peaceful.

Arise – still peaceful – more birds to see – walks along the bush tracks – sits relax – sit some more – write – relax – tell the home base that we will be at the Wentworth bridge at 11:30 tomorrow – we are assured that the bridge with be raised for us.

Day 2

Downstream for an hour or so - very few other boats on the water - many of the private boats have been taken from the water in anticipation of the arrival of the water that has been the bane of the residents of Albury and Wagga.

We pull over - adjourn to the sun deck - Lunch is a lunch to die for!  - How lucky are we - no one in sight - sounds of birds and lapping water - how lucky are we?

Off downstream - the delightful River vistas continue - the kite nests are admired!

Preparation for the evening meal starts early - the cabin fills with the smells of spices that flavour Italian pasta - garlic - tomato - thyme - bay leaf - star anise

Moor opposite the Coomerella Golf Club - we are experts now - Captain O'Donnell both steers and commands - swing wide - wave to the kids swimming - turn upstream - edge into the bank - touch to port - dispatch the crew - tie up - power up to turn the stern into the current - wait for the ropes to be secured - power down! - This afternoon's stress levels almost not a stress level at all!

The wine appears - red wine - white wine - how lucky are we - how lucky are we!

Day 3

Arise - walk - the Murray banks are a virtual aviary - birds everywhere - kite - eagle - hawk - sparrow - finch - the smaller the bird the greater their propensity to harangue their more voluminous cousins - the smaller birds tweet melodiously - the medium sized cousins exhibit more a tendency towards squawks and screeches that are of such tone and volume that would annoy if they was no so intermittent.

Pick up the rejected bounty of some bird of prey who has mistaken for an egg the ball that has been lost on the Coomerella Golf Course - imagine what the bird must have thought when it discovered its mistake! 

No rush - no rush at all - breakfast together - absorb the peace and tranquility of the environment - comment to one other - how lucky are we?

On our way - O'Donnell is now a master - dispatch the crew to untie the ropes. Two blasts on the horn - reverse out into the stream - turn the stern into the current - straighten the boat - on our way - slow - slow - as slow as is possible while still having sufficient power to maintain some semblance of a linear course whilst accommodating the vagaries of the currents and eddies inherent to a swollen the river.

Look - Look - over there! - a huge brown snake swims across the swollen Murray - it hears the house boat pass behind him - he raises his head high out of the water before dropping it down again and making for shore at a speed that would challenge the dominance of Michael Phelps in an aquatorial challenge.

Approach the bridge - we are early - we turn in the wide stream - we turn again - we travel back upstream - turn again - finally men clad in bright yellow, high visibility vest appear on the bridge - the span slowly rises - they wave for us to pass through - we approach the  open span - it looks plenty wide enough - we get closer to the bridge - the pylons seem to come closer and closer together - suddenly there seems to be more and more side current - oh dear - is that span even wide enough for us to get through - too late now - the current pushes the stern of the boat towards starboard - the width of the boat presented to the span now exceeds the width of the span - the voices of the deck hands raise to previously unknown levels both of volume and of tone - the throttle is pushed forward with vigor and with minor levels of panic - the 150 horses than hide on the shroud of the Suzuki outboard motor come to life - the nose of the boat pulls to the centre of the span and stern follows - the deck hands go quiet - relieved - the boat passes through with something that resembles elegance and grace - if no elegance and grace then certainly with projected attire that belied the panic of the onboard novice mariners.

The River is wide and swollen as we approach the junction with the Darling - we watch the buoys as we approach the turn into the Darling -  red and green - keep the red ones on the right going downstream - and the green on the left - ok - now which side of those green ones do we go once we turn into the Darling - right or left - right - no left - right - no left - oh that it's right we are going upstream in the Darling - keep the green ones on our right!

Darling - much narrower that the Murray - 4 knots maximum - hardly enough to let you effectively maneuver the house boat - nervousness increases - a nerves getting stressed to the limit - a cross stream enters from the Murray - the house boat wants to turn at right angles to the main stream - nervous - nervous.

Where are we to moor - just up before the bridge - there is a spot between the two other All-Season boats - surely that is where we are to berth - approach - the other boat renters scream for us to go away - they have decided that they need the centre space for their ropes and ancillary craft - a little more panic sets in - turn in the narrow Darling - advice comes from the shore - moor there - we head to their suggested mooring place - approach - a small sign says "no mooring here" - a little more panic - we head down passed the no mooring signs to a grasses bank - this will have to do - slowing - slowly into the shore - at the last moment - not enough speed - excess application of the throttle - suddenly we feel the boat slide up the submerged grass bank - it look like she is stuck! - change the pilot - Captain O'Donnell takes over - steer to starboard - apply the throttle - the boat pauses a while then gradually swings - turn the wheel to port and again apply the power - slowly but surely she works her way off the bank - back into the stream - head upstream - there should be room for us beside the boat ramp - finally the boaties recognize our dilemma and move their parked runabouts - we head into the moor next to another house boats - the hirers appears - a rough and ready gem who directs and aides our mooring - it is over.

We reflect - a pity that we had to have such a nervous ending to such a delightful trip - don't worry says our rough and ready knight in shining armor - I do this all the time and right now with these floods this is bloody hard!

The Company man arrives - he drives two drivers back to Mildura to pick up our vehicles to enable us to have an early departure tomorrow morning - the passengers adjourn to the Wentworth pub while the drivers relocate the cars - Wentworth and the hostel have seen much, much better days - privatized employment services tout for business - plenty of unemployed and very few jobs - a tired town - perhaps the rain may provide a better summer - the enormous Wentworth Club lays idle - some say the reason was lack of patronage - more likely a result of undue optimism of earlier days compounded by poor management - in any event the local shire, as local shires do, have stepped in the help our the creditors - in doing so the Wentworth Shire must have the most generous municipal offices in the whole of New South Wales.

Dinner at the local pub - an experience - locals join houseboat patrons - a menu that dedicate an entire page to various on the Vienna Schnitzel with parmigiana variations being in the ascendency - meal sizes were obscene but the quality was acceptable by pub standards - the quality of the house wines was amazing given the general ambience of the pub and the town.