| A houseboat, paddle-steamer & a dog. Echuca is a busy Victorian town situated right on the banks of the mighty Murray River. The people who live there make good use of the river too. There are historic paddle steamers for the tourists, water-skiing, fishing and house boats you can hire and go camping on for a weekend or just have a little cruise up the river for a bar-b-que on a sunny afternoon.  Now that was just what our adventurers, Mr and Mrs Bowtie and their children Henry and Henrietta were doing. They had invited the Reverend Goodman to come for a cruise and a bar-b-que with them and their dog Max on their very own houseboat called ‘The Good Ship Lollipop-pop-pop’. As soon as the Reverend Goodman was on board they untied the mooring ropes, started up the outboards and went putting and popping along the river past the magnificent old Red Gums hanging over the river banks, past the port with the old wool wharves and paddle steamers like the Emmy Lou and the Pervency, past the swimming beach on the Moama side, under the road and rail bridges and on up the river. When they found a good spot they tied up to a tree and the kids and Max jumped overboard for a swim while the adults lit the bar-b-que and got out the steaks and salad for lunch. They had a wonderful time.  There was so much to see around the river - galahs and corellas in the gum trees, a whistling kite floating around up in the sky, the occasional swirl of a fish in the river and an old man goanna scrounging around through the leaves and bark on the ground for something to eat. Max the dog happily gnawed on a bone and barked at bird shadows.But quicker then they thought possible it was time to take the Reverend Goodman back to town so he could be at his church in time for the evening service. They packed up the bar-b-que, untied the mooring rope. Henry and Henrietta gave the houseboat a good push out into the current and hopped on board themselves. “Start her up dad,” said Henrietta. “Yeah, let her rip Dad!” As the good ship Lollipop floated out into midstream, Mr Bowtie pushed the button beside the steering wheel to start the engines. There was a quiet whirring sound but the outboard motors didn’t start. Mr Bowtie tried again but once again the Lollipop would not start. They had started to float downstream towards the next bend quite quickly and in the distance they could hear “Whoooo-a-woooooooh! Chhhh. Chhhh. Chhhh.” “Oh no!” said Mrs Bowtie, “It sounds like a paddle steamer coming this way. You’d better get those motors started quickly Harold.” Mr Bowtie lifted up one of the outboard motor covers to try and find the problem. The houseboat drifted around the bend into one of the narrower reaches of the river and down the over end was a paddle steamer heading towards them. It’s paddles were splashing furiously, the smoke was belching of the funnel and the captain was pulling on the cord to sound its whistle. “Whoooo-a-woooooooh!” “Look Dad. It’s the Pervency,” said Henry. “We’re in its way here in the middle of the river. I think we're going to collide,” said Henrietta. “We’ll all drown,” said Mrs Bowtie. “Perhaps we should pray,” said the Reverend Goodman. “Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof!” barked Max. “Keep that dog quite please,” said Mr Bowtie, “I can’t concentrate.” Max the Dog would not keep quite. As the Good Ship Lollipop drifted closer and closer to the huge paddle steamer, Max barked and barked and barked. Soon all of the dogs from near and far began running towards the banks of the Murray River. Max the dog took the mooring rope in his mouth and jumped over board. He swam and paddled towards the dogs on the shore and when he got their he ran with the rope around a big gum tree and barked “Woof. Woof. Help me pull.”  The collection of dogs from near and far grabbed the rope with their teeth and began to pull and pull. Slowly they pulled the houseboat towards the shore as the paddle steamer splashed furiously past “Whoooo-a-woooooooh! Chhhh. Chhhh. Chhhh.” “Hooray for Max!” shouted the Bowties. “Oh, my goodness,” said the Reverend Goodman, “that was close.” “Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Pop! Putter, putter, putter,” went the houseboat engines as they started again. “You naughty houseboat,” said Mrs Bowtie, “You gave us all quite a scare.” Max and all of the dogs hopped on board and came for a ride back down the river to the mooring jetty, where the Reverend Goodman hurried off to his evening service and the Bowtie family gave Max a huge bone to share with his doggie friends. They painted a new name on the bow of their houseboat. They called it ‘Maximilian the Great’. |
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Created by Daryll Bellingham
with the assistance of the audience at the Echuca Library Vacation Activities Storytelling Show, at the Echuca Civic Centre Thursday 8th January, 2004. © Daryll Bellingham (Thanks to the Echuca Friends of the Library for helping to make the storytelling sessions possible and to Zoe Steel for the wonderful illustrations.) |
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Last updated - 6/2/2004 URL this page - plainstalking.deni.net.au/storiescamphboat.html Designed by - Daryll Bellingham, © 2002. |
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