The Cumberoona

I recently took this photo on a stunning winter morning as the sun rose over the empty Lake Mulwala. It lead me to the discovery that the Cumberoona that cruises the waters of Lake Mulwala is a replica. Whilst it is a replica it is an authentic representation of the original Cumberooona paddle steamenr that was launched in Echuca in 1866.

You can read the history of the Cumberoona including that it was opened by the Queen in 1988 and how it ended up having a mooring point on the Yarrawonga Foreshore on the Cumberoona website. https://www.cumberoona.com.au/history/

What a wonderful history the Murray River has from the days when it was major transport route with paddle steamers carrying supplies to towns and stations along the river and returning with wool, timber and livestock to take to market. The paddle steamers also carried the mail.

Nancy Cato’s All The Rivers Run is an Australian classic which tells the story of Philadelphia Gordon and her meeting with the handsome captain of a paddle steamer. The television series of the same name starring Sigrid Thornton and John Waters is a perennial favorite of mine.

It is defitinitely on my To-Do list, to write a story about the Murray River in its boom times as a transport route.