VEHICLE FERRIES IN AUSTRALIA

Yeh I reckon we have paid for the thing over the years,

Not only Morgan.......there are good number of ferries across the Murray from up near Renmark right down to Narrung.... Not sure of total number, but it would be around 12 I reckon. They are totally free and run 24/7/365. It'd be a pain of a job I reckon. There has to be an attendant on hand at all times. They ALWAYS return to the same side of the river where they have a base/office.

Roachie

You must almost be able to just drive across by now with the drought!

A common misconception, Tim. The River Murray looks quite good above Lock 1 at Blanchetown. There is even water flowing over the control gates (environmental flow) and the pelicans love to catch the fish there. The Locks or weirs in SA maintain good pool levels within a metre or two at all times. The River acts as a reservoir for SA so it is carefully monitored. What does suffer is the extensive backwater and lagoon system. You can certainly walk across dried up lakes at a lot of spots including the lower reaches and that is very sad to see.

Kingo

You mean it's NOT as bad as the tree-huggers tell us it is?! :)

Yeh Tim we have shares in the Fraser Island Barges as well lol lol, also the one's that go to Moreton Island and the Barges that service the Moreton Bay Islands.

Oh, I forget the one that crosses the Cooper when it floods across the Birdsville Track (only read about it the other day!) - apparently it's always sitting there by the dry creek bed until it's needed.

They won't like your caravan on that one though - they're a bit nervous about anything they think might be top heavy after it tipped over with a truck on it (I think in the 1950's or 1960's - before my time!)

Lots for Fraser - 2 companies with 2 barges each operate out of Inskip that I know of, and I know there's others from River Heads/Hervey Bay but never used those!

Hi Jon, I know that one, I went down there a couple of months ago to check it out. The last time before that, I was there was 1961.Image Could Not Be Found

Hi Rob,
And it doesn't look like they have replaced it in all those years. Still has a timber deck and holds about 8 cars if that.
If you had come down to the Clarence river in 1961, you may have found that there were 3 ferries at Harwood. Not that I was born then, just a few of the old identities around the Lower Clarence use to remember the days with the cane cutters using the excuse that they had missed the boat and had to have another beer at the Hilton while waiting for the next ferry. :) Here's a pic of the three ferries just before the bridge was opened in the early 60's
Image Could Not Be Found

100% right there. Even if you are polite and just wait around for another vehicle hoping you split the fair so to speak, no way. and it is flat out 150M $25 with camper thanks, I noted he also waited till there was a return journey to maximise his down time from the otherwise non producing retail venture attached.
Commerong Island from Nowra (to very nice land locked island,) free and used to be operated by a real character, split your sides laughing in 3 minutes.
Probably has a fare now but was great, yes you could often wait 15 minutes for him to finish his coffee (beer) and wander down to the ferry.
Memories!!!

Ian

There's also the Kooringal trader operating from Amity Pt to Kooringal on Moreton.

There's 4 (or 5, depending on season) that service Straddie (3x or 4x Stradbroke Ferries, 1x "The Big Red Cat") last time I went but a number that service the other southern islands.

$99 in 2008 , 1.5 min actual moving time , $1-00 per second , dearest mechanical ride in Aus.

Alloy c/t;

Wow! Not only the most expensive, but the worst maintained! The damn ferry was hardly running when we went through there.

I still have the original reciept for that "ferry" ride and the associated "brochure" that came with it, extolling the virtues of the area, and how the money collected was spent on maintenance and improvements!

What rubbish! We visited several of the so-called campsites/grounds that were allegedly maintained using this windfall from the ferry crossing - and none were usable!

Overgrown, rubbish everywhere, etc - who'd want to stay at them? Not to mention personal safety issues.....

Mmmm, let's do the math. Conservatively, lets say 50 vehicles a day use the ferry to access the Cape. At a ~$100 per vehicle (and that is probably more for tour groups) that = $ 5,000 a day CASH! Multiply that by an average tourist season of say, 4 months (and yes, it's probably longer than that), and you're talking more than $600,000 a season!

Where does it all go? Certainly not on improving the facilities for visitors!

And today I now read that Ayers Rock will probably closed to people who climb it! I guess enough money is being generated by the Cape that Ayers Rock and it's revenue is not needed!

What next?

Matt

Don't forget the Sorrento to Queenscliff ferry across the southern end of Port Phillip bay in Melbourne.
Barry.