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Captain Proud Paddle Steamer, Murray Bridge, South Australia

The Captain Proud.
I've been to Murray Bridge before but I don't think I've written about it. This trip, Enigma and I booked a three hour, two course, lunch cruise on the Captain Proud Paddle Steamer that sails on the River Murray and is based at Murray Bridge.


The Time Machine from
Back to the Future III?
In the car park Doctor Emmet Brown's Steam Train Time Machine was looking something the worse for wear and I was kind of hoping he'd done a conversion on the Captain Proud. No such luck however. As the paddle steamer pulled away from the jetty it didn't suddenly levitate out of the water and take us back to the old west or 1955.

The trip starts out with a good humored introduction by the vessels Captain with the expected orientation of where everything is. He notes that the boat is the 'tiger moth' of boats, with the people acting as ballast, so, if it starts to develop a lean to one side, it just means a few people need to move to the other side of the boat. Though the Captain did assure us that the boat wouldn't tip over.

For those interested in such things the Captain Proud does not have independent paddle wheels. It can only use the wheels to go forward and backwards.

Dining Room. 
The lunch menu is pretty limited. On our trip the menu was fish or roast beef served with vegetables and for desert, Pavlova or Brandy Baskets with fruit salad. It's the first time I've ordered a meal simply by raising my hand on my preferences (since there were eight people per table and this was quicker than asking everyone individually) but the food was very nice all the same.

As you cruise down the river the Captain does give you a commentary on various interesting facts along the way, such as how much some of the river front properties are worth and pointing out where the banks collapsed, completely submerging a road and several cars.

Enigma takes some photos
from the upper deck.
I must admit the scenery isn't the most scenic you'll ever see, mostly flat-ish bush land, river front houses, marinas and plenty of house boats.

The real attraction is that it's a great way to spend a relaxing 3 hours with friends on the water. You're completely free to move around the boat's three levels (with exception to the staff only areas), take a few photos, chat with your friends or get to know anyone else you're sharing your table with. You can also relax on the outside balconies and just enjoy the sensation of cruising down a river.

Me on the upper deck.
Enigma and I had a pleasant afternoon. The weather was a little overcast but it was nice and not too cold on the outside decks. We thought it was good value for the price.


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Comments

  1. Mum60January 13, 2012 7:28 PM

    It looks and sounds like a good afternoon out too. It sounds a bit like Perth river cruises, where there's not really that much scenery to look at either, mainly what you describe.

    I seem to remember that if you went down river, there was a bit more scenery than going the other way, but that was years ago back in the 80s I think, so maybe there might be more to look at now with different things being built.

    I can't save your picture, as it only gives me a white icon box with the blue and pink buttons in it when I've saved it. There isn't anything suitable to save it with to put it in My Picture slide show on my comp. The Properties just says 'File' where it says File.

    It won't open it with the usual, only Explorer, but that's no good for saving to my comp. I need it to save to such as Nero Snap etc. Can you put it in a file-type that will save, or if not, send me that photo.

    I was going to save the boat and the train too, but haven't tried those to see if they do the same, so maybe you could make them all the same file-typ. Was going to save Kathy's but she's only from the side.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TET (David Arandle)January 14, 2012 5:56 PM

      I don't know why you're having trouble saving these images, they're just ordinary jpg files like all my other images. Taken straight off my camera.

      All but the picture of Kathy is also available if you look at my photo albums on Facebook. There's actually two close up's of my face on FB.

      Delete
  2. Mum60January 14, 2012 8:45 PM

    This is strange, because I've just gone to save it again, and it's saved properly this time. Only thing is, I didn't click to save it from the enlarged picture this time, so it's slightly fuzzy when I enlarge it on my comp.

    I tried going into the large one, but it's just saved the same with the blue buttons icon.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mum60January 14, 2012 8:47 PM

    Haven't tried them from your web site yet. I usually click into your blog from the email sent and enlarge pictures to save from there, which usually save OK.

    ReplyDelete

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