In the 1930s Annie and Roy went to Tasmania for a holiday. They lived in central Victoria so it was a bit of an adventure. First they drove to Melbourne where they put their car on a boat (it was lifted on by crane), then they sailed to Launceston in northern Tasmania. Then they drove around the beautiful island for several weeks before doing the trip across Bass Strait in reverse.
They took quite a few photos, including this one. It's taken from a lookout near New Norfolk in Tasmania and that's the
SS Cartela on the River Derwent. As the article below states, she's a famous steamer in her 'patch'. I don't think Roy and Annie went for a ride on the ship. (By the way, those are hop fields by the river.)
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| SS Cartela on the Derwent River near New Norfolk, 1937. |
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| www.afloat.com.au [Sept 2012] |
Also in the 1930s, Roy and Annie went for a holiday on the Gippsland Lakes in eastern Victoria. The steamers that plied the lakes were very popular with tourists, and were often the most convenient way of getting about for the locals as well. This is their photo of the
SS Gippsland as she pulls into a jetty.
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| SS Gippsland, 1930s, Gippsland Lakes. |
In 1937 the
SS Gippsland left the lakes for good. I don't know what happened to her after that. But I do know what happened to Annie and Roy. WW2 is just around the corner, two of their sons fought in the Pacific, their shop burnt down, they moved to Bendigo and started a completely different phase of their lives...but those stories will have to wait for another day.
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| Gippsland Times 7 Oct 1937 |
Why don't you sail on over to
Sepia Saturday to see what else is happening on the water.
What great pictures and memories of a wonderful trip. You have sparked my interest, both in what happens to them in the next phase of their lives and also in learning more of Tasmania.
ReplyDeleteKathy M.
A little bit more rugged than the Thames and a touch larger than our Derwents (all three of them) The Lake District Derwent means Valley of the Oaks
ReplyDeleteCentral Victoria to Tasmania in the 1930s, what a great adventure. Lovely family story and great old photographs.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing that in the 1930s, when roads and cars weren't what they are today, river and lake shipping was the sensible way to get around many places. It was like that in New Zealand in the 1800s and for the early decades of the 20th Century too - coastal shipping played a major role in transport around the country.
ReplyDeleteThe ships back then were a lot more important and useful as transportation. They also seem a lot more appealing for pleasure cruises than the huge modern cruise ships.
ReplyDeleteTimes may change but the attraction of boats like these will never go away.
ReplyDeleteWhen we lived near Lake Michigan we often talked about taking the car ferry across to Wisconsin. Now that we live far from there, I wish we had. Looking forward to reading more of their story.
ReplyDeleteHope to hear more about Annie and Roy.
ReplyDeleteFamily fun and great memories too! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteFascinating research. Your posts are always interesting. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThe SS Cartela is lovely! I'm not sure when did GPRS become a part of a car but I think that was an adventure indeed for Annie and Roy.
ReplyDeleteHaving your car craned on a ship sounds way more exciting than driving onto a RoRo ferry. Tasmanians is on my list of places I'd like to go so I found that photo of the Derwent River stunning. I guess for the time being I'll have to content myself with the river of the same name here in Cumbria UK, although that too is surrounded by hills.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to have these photos and the story that goes with them. It's interesting that there is a Derwent and also a Launceston. The latter I know from Cornwall, in England.Sorry to hear about the shop burning down but I know you're going to give us some good stories on that later.
ReplyDeleteI Guess Modern Australia Was Built On The Use Of Boats & Water Transport.Practical And Elegant.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful piece of history. We tend not to have river steamers in this country - none of the rivers being long enough or navigable enough to make them worth while.
ReplyDeleteLove the photos they took, amazing amateur photography for the 30's!
ReplyDelete