Brief on the Great Australian Inland Cruise 2015

Program Mildura to Renmark - pdf
Report on Echuca to Mildura - Phase 1 - pdf

Event organisers

GAIC Convenor - Garry Spencer, AM
0418 996 856

Introduction

The Great Australian Inland Cruise (GAIC) is an epic 1,720 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 and have 10-15 rest days, making a total of about 70 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 22 November 2014 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 21 February 2015. On 24 February 2015, the GAIC event will be officially concluded. Boats will then make their own way back to their elected destination or home base.

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 and appreciate 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 on the boat on which they are travelling.

The planning figures being used for the cruise are: 20 boats and 60 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 and the widely varying landscapes on the River
• 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; perhaps a small choir as part of the troupe, or maybe train up some of the people on the trip as a choir, during the trip
• 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
• 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 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
0418 996 856