Paddlesteamers docked together in flooding river heights. The Paddlesteamers were safe in this part of the river. The Murray River was flowing quickly which made it more difficult to manoeuvre the boats easily. Riding on the P.S. Alexander Arbuthnot and P.S. Pevensey will give you the experience of Echucaââ¬â¢s heyday, from about 1860 to the early 1900ââ¬â¢s, Echuca was a bustling, pioneering outpost. Paddlesteamers ferried people and goods from all through the Murray, Darling and Murrumbidgee River systems, to Echuca ââ¬â the closet point to Melbourne on the Murray. Echuca flourished. Pubs, breweries and brothels boomed as the township revelled in its success. Legend has it that it wasnââ¬â¢t uncommon for horse races to stir up the dust down High Street where boutiques boasted the finest in European fashion and finery, bare knuckle fights lasted hours down on the river banks and you could catch cod fish as big as a man.
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