the dragon and I are spending a week aboard a houseboat shortly, my questions to the locals or at least somebody who has been there are

(1) should we take the houseboat upstream or downstream

(2) what are the main atractions of echuca/moama

(3) what time is happy hour in vic. and if I cross the river do I sart the happy hour an hour earlier or later

such are the state of my worries that I am sure we will not be able to settle in the jaccuzzi until we have all problems resolved

dave06 wrote:

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the dragon and I are spending a week aboard a houseboat shortly, my questions to the locals or at least somebody who has been there are

(1) should we take the houseboat upstream or downstream

(2) what are the main atractions of echuca/moama

(3) what time is happy hour in vic. and if I cross the river do I sart the happy hour an hour earlier or later

such are the state of my worries that I am sure we will not be able to settle in the jaccuzzi until we have all problems resolved

---

Sorry Dave I can't help with questions 1 & 2.  As for question 3 well I would navigate to the side that started first, if that one finished before the later one I would then cross over and start all over again, but then I'm a greedy old bugger.

Now if the late starter finished first well you can't help bad luck now can you?

 

Hi Dave -am interested in the replies also -am wanting to do just that as well ! When exactly is the best time of year do you reckon ? Mike

all depends on what you classify as "the best time" I personally hope that it buckets down, I just want to lay in the bubbly thing on the top deck, all under shelter, read a book or watch the big screen idiot box or just do nothing at all and enjoy the bubbles exploring my nether regions I would love to just sit in front of the pseudo fireplace sipping a good whiskey and staring in to the make beleive flames and ponder life, the universe and everything (already know the answer is 42 so no sense pondering the question) then again warm days drifting along from point to point, fires on the shore, balmy days lazing on the li lows would suit me as well, I really dont care which I am a bit dissapointed however that there are no pubs up or down from echuca/moama in which to call for embibement and a meal, I love the company of an old ye olde pube and the people within (I'm a very gregarious old fart, I just love company) all dreaming of course as I cant stand sitting for too long and reading a book, 5 pages in and I'm a raving looney, cant watch telly because I go to sleep with boredom within ten minutes we just seen an ad for a houseboat holiday and said "thats for me" jumped on the interweb and booked this one next one's uluru and the alice with about 30 people (all new to camping) so I have to have a fully charged battery for that one I really dont think you could pick a bad time for just noodling around on boats

Go on the part of the river that still has water in it. I'd go east. SA doesn't have any because NSW grabs the river water leading to the Murray, and Vic orchadists grab it in the east.
So I'd go where the water was. Those paddle boats don't walk on the dry bottom very well. Besides, all the birds have gone where the water is.  And outboards don't work without water either.

Oops! I've digressed again, but you did ask. Smooth sailing. Chris

-- Edited by Cruising Granny on Wednesday 22nd of April 2009 07:44:32 PM

on the echuca/moama homepage (yes it does have one) there is a place where one can "nick" a live feed camera for a while, I already checked to see that the duck's werent walking and I can gladly report that there is indeed water in this section thanks to the weirs if you wish to "have a play" with the camera then it can be found here, be nice and "share" boys and girls http://www.echucamoama.com/webcam/index.html

dave06 wrote:

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the dragon and I are spending a week aboard a houseboat shortly, my questions to the locals or at least somebody who has been there are

(1) should we take the houseboat upstream or downstream

(2) what are the main atractions of echuca/moama

(3) what time is happy hour in vic. and if I cross the river do I sart the happy hour an hour earlier or later

such are the state of my worries that I am sure we will not be able to settle in the jaccuzzi until we have all problems resolved

---

1) If you want to see vast forests of river gums go up stream,  If you want to see vast forests of river gums go down stream. The river is low at the moment so you will be in a 5 meter deep mud trench anyway.

2) The river boats would be the main drawcard for the area, and you may recall my deleted post re Miranda, she is a highlight if you are looking for a fancy woman for your expidition @ Moama the "Dump Point" would be the highlight.

3 The Murray at Echuca runs on NSW time as the border technically is the high river level on the Victorian side.

Now what you do when you get to Echucha is wander around the Port and interrogate the locals, you are looking for Claire Jackson, Peter Garfield and Kevin Hutchinson (Kevin is a really down to earth bloke though he does have an AO for services to riverboats) you will the present them with the letter of introduction I will provide in .doc format for you to print off and carry on your person. Now these 3 have forgotten more about this area than I ever knew and will ensure you have a good time, show you the golden rivet, maybe let you play with a genuine steamer.
So all you have to do is PM me your email addy and full names of those in your party....

-- Edited by Basil Faulty on Wednesday 22nd of April 2009 09:15:32 PM

G,DAY DAVO
Looks like Basil has things well covered about Echuca/Moama, MY bro inlaw lives close by and im sure any extra that u may need i might be able to assist.
Do u have a date that u and the lady dragon will be there as we will becoming through there soon?


 GOOD TRAVELING MATE

Hi dave hopefully you are doing the trip in the next few months as I see the murray every day and watch its levels. later in the year before xmas it is always at its worst and you could just about walk across. then they open the weir to let water in for for the summer months. last year we couldn't get a boat in there at all, from December it was ok. Luckily houseboats are flat bottomed. As basil said the port of echuca is always good for a look lots of history down there. I'm going to miss the murray because I think we may becoming  residents of the eyre much sooner than I expected but looking forward to doing lots of exploring around SA. cheryl

thanks cheryl, Dave we are booked for the 25th of may so should be enough water owing to the locks, in theory anyway, been watching the camera thingy and the river level indicator I think we will head upstream, seems to be much of a muchness either way, the dragon will have the helm so it is up to her where we go, all I want is a bit of R&R just get away from "things" for a while, I'm at my happiest under a gum tree with a small fire by a river ( if I have my way my ashes will be spread in such a setting, either that or in a rainforest) so no shortage of that along there we plan to stay in echuca for a couple of days after our houseboat hol. so we will have a nose around the docks, no doubt speak to the locals, they always find me also a couple of good drives up through there as well according to some freinds who emailed me (they wont have a bar of forums) so I will do a report on them as well ah!! now south australia cheryl, whatever you want to know just ask, I know it like the back of my hand and adore every square inch of it