Introduction
The Great Australian Inland Cruise (GAIC) is an epic 1,700
km trip down the Murray River by a range of small craft, including 5-9 paddle
boats. This is a trip rarely before, if
ever, staged on the River on such a scale over such an extended period. In that regard it is a great opportunity for
all involved.
The trip is not a celebration or commemoration of any
particular event but, for many of the participants, it is more a celebration of
life and the achievement of a long held dream by a number of boating
enthusiasts to take their boat down Australia’s most iconic river.
The plan is that the fleet will travel about 50 km/day over
34 days and have 10-15 rest days, making a total of about 50 days. The fleet will be stopping overnight,
whenever possible at a single place, either at a town and or at a selected
location along the river bank.
Departure
Departure will be on 3 January 2015 from Echuca with the
fleet being officially received at the South Australian Annual Wooden Boat
Festival (one of the best in the nation) at Goolwa at the Murray mouth on 22
February 2015. At the conclusion of the
Wooden Boat Festival on 24 February 2015, the GAIC event will be officially
concluded. Boats will then make their
own way back to their elected destination.
What is planned is a safe, fully compliant and enjoyable
trip down the River by a group of interesting people in their highly individual
craft. It is not a race, so boat speed
will not be a high priority.
The emphasis instead will be on safety, working together and
jointly sharing this potentially enriching life experience and spending the
time to absorb the full character of the River, its local communities and one
another.
With a number of older boats and 11 locks to be traversed,
care and mutual support and careful navigation will be the highlights of a
successful trip, as will enjoyment and good company in the overnight and longer
stays.
Boats travelling on the cruise will not be carrying
passengers but will instead carry crew members; the difference being that crew
members work and contribute to the event and to the running and management and
maintenance of the boat, camp sites and daily meal preparation. Crew members should expect to assist with
defraying fuel costs.
The planning figures being used for the cruise are: 30 boats
and 150 people travelling in the fleet.
Planning
Planning for the trip is well underway and features a range
of desirable inclusions, such as:
·
Artists to record in painting some of the
highlights of the trip, especially the boats involved
·
Photographers to make a photographic record of
the trip and its participants
·
A trip recorder to record the highlights of the
trip for a commemorative booklet but also to keep the website and blog up to
date with reports of progress
·
A land based crew to help set up the base camps
for each night on the River, in conjunction with the local Councils and
communities on the River
·
A performance troupe to put on 6-8 concerts,
jointly with local communities, at selected locations
·
A number of celebrity chefs to assist with the
catering at fleet/community BBQs and to put on cooking demonstrations at
selected locations using local produce
·
Navigators on each boats from the ADF especially
those who are members of the Soldier On or Mates for Mates organisations which
sponsor wounded or injured servicemen/women from recent conflicts.
Actions planned or
underway
·
Close liaison with local mayors and Councils,
RSL clubs, Police and River communities for them to assist with and share in
the journey and to also enjoy the many stop overs on the trip
·
Close liaison with local Police for assistance with
the security aspects of the trip/overnight stops
·
Good support from Councils with portaloos,
shower and rubbish collection facilities, as well as with setting up the
refuelling points on the river bank or overnight stopping locations; perhaps
even assisting with concert venues, if applicable
·
We anticipate that the passing of the fleet and
arrival of the fleet will attract much local community and media attention
·
We also anticipate that the local community will
appreciate the arrival of the fleet with its large contingent of consumers and
customers all of whom will be after local services including haircuts,
replacement clothing, laundry, med/dent support, food and grocery purchases and
any number of other local services
·
We will be consulting with the Rural Doctors
Association to ensure we have medical and dental coverage for the trip, as well
as some appointment space during stop over days or for emergency treatment
·
On the rest days, trips to historic homes or
properties, tourist attractions, sources of local prosperity are planned,
hopefully with local transport and other support
·
Interviews with local historians will also be
requested to get briefed on early explorers , the first settlers in the area
and local prominent descendants
·
A different boat will lead on each day of the
cruise and at the conclusion of each day, the lead boat will have the cruise
piper on the bow to play the fleet into its night location
·
A number of the BBQ’s will be used as
fundraisers to cover some of the costs involved in staging the event, such as
insurance coverage and fuel reimbursement costs for the land party
Recording the trip on
video
·
We plan to film the trip from land, sea and air
as the basis for a documentary on the cruise
·
The rights to the film are owned by the event
organiser who will attempt to sell these rights for TV or other coverage; all
participants will be required to sign an undertaking to be included in the film
and to accept the event risks; this will help reduce our insurance bill for the
trip
Sponsorship
·
We will be seeking sponsorship for aspects of
the cruise, including event insurance and navigation charts for the river;
discussions on this have been commenced
Participation
·
The GAIC event will be a success based on the
number of people who participate, with or without their boats and wide
participation is invited and encouraged, either for the whole trip or a part of
it.
·
Please contact the event organisers for more
information or to be added to a mailing list and receive updates as the plan
develops. All travel to/from the boat/River
is the responsibility of the participant.
Event organisers
·
GAIC
Convenor Garry Spencer, AM
·
Trip
Coordinator and Paddle Boat Liaison Bob McGrath