The first Riverboat Postman started the run in 1910 (in a rowboat!) and is the only river based mail run in Australia. Nowadays Hawkesbury Cruises has the Australia Post contract to deliver mail (and sometimes other essentials like milk, newspapers etc.) to the tiny settlements along the Hawkesbury River, north of Sydney. None of these communities have road access, so this is a really essential service.
It was a glorious day to be on the water; not too hot but with a brilliant sun shining. We were served a delicious Morning tea and entertained by the Captain, who was a long standing Hawkesbury resident, delivering a hoot of a commentary full of anecdotes, gossip and history about the river and the residents.
Our first port of call was Dangar Island, where there is a sizeable community of permanent residents. Governor Arthur Phillip, explored the lower river by small boat in March 1788 within weeks of the First Fleet's arrival. He named it Mullet Island, for the abundance of fish in the local Hawkesbury River.
The island was purchased in 1864 and renamed by Henry Cary Dangar, the son of Henry Dangar, a surveyor, pastoralist and parliamentarian.
Leaving Dangar Island and cruising upriver, and under the railway bridge we began to pass some spectacular examples of Hawkesbury sandstone. If I heard it correctly, this rock has been nicknamed Boob Rock!
Along the river a bit, was Milson Island. The island was first settled over 100 years ago and has been used as a bacteriological station, quarantine station, a hospital to treat soldiers from WWI with venereal disease, mental hospital, a rehab for alcoholics, a women's jail, and now a sports and recreation centre.
After passing the wreck of HMAS Parramatta, the first ship commissioned for the Australian Navy (sorry, no photo - I wasn't quick enough), we continued on to Bar Point. As with most places along the route, we were met at the wharf by a couple of residents.
Living here would be hard to take, eh?
The settlements along the river were originally for agriculture. Some, such as Pumpkin Creek [population 2] are inaccessible to a boat the size of the Riverboat Postman, and we were told that the mailbag gets left out on a post stuck in the water. Alternatively, one of the residents will row a boat out to meet the Postman. Many of these settlements have none of the essential services so the Postman is a vital service, as is the family owned business which has collected garbage from the small communities for the last 35 years.
The last place we visited was Milson's Passage [population 18], although officially a suburb of Sydney, is known locally as the Republic of Milson's Passage. John Carrick is the self proclaimed King. He greets the Riverboat Postman cruise each day, sitting on his "throne" to give a speech of welcome.
And all too soon it was time to board the train to go home.
Well that looks to have been great fun for you all! And meeting royalty too lol A lovely idea for you all to go gallivanting together :)
ReplyDeleteDoing group things is always fun. It was a lovely day for the outing too Lyn.
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