Sale - Port Of Sale Heritage Cruises
Update on 16/3/23: As from Sunday 16th April we will be running charter booking only and the business is for sale.
Drift back into a different time, when our waterways were our highways, and journey from the Port of Sale to the landmark Swing Bridge.
Spot birds and wildlife as you cruise and your guide recounts the region's remarkable stories, from its first people the Gunnaikurnai, through early settlement to the present day.
The scene is set as you board The Rubeena, a classy wooden boat first launched at Lakes Entrance in 1912.
Relax into her quiet rhythm and enjoy your voyage along the Sale Canal and Thomson River, surrounded by Red Gums, birdsong and reminders of a fascinating heritage.
With the early European settlers of the Gippsland region producing many riches, including the discovery of gold in the 1880s and cheese so good it was being exported back to Europe, the newcomers needed an effective transport system to bring supplies in and transport resources out.
The Port of Sale, Sale canal and the swing bridge were the linchpins that enabled the system to function. Today the swing bridge is the oldest intact, operational bridge of its kind in Australia and the only bridge of its kind in Victoria. It is opened at 3pm every Saturday and Sunday to enable tall river traffic to go through.
One of the area's earliest vessels was the EMV Rubeena, originally licensed on April 4, 1912, just weeks before the Titanic sank. But the Rubeena has had a proud history over the ensuing century.
She was built in Sydney and named after the builder's wife. Travelling down to Lakes Entrance on the deck of a steamer, she was dumped into the sea off Lakes Entrance, beginning her life on the Gippsland Lakes.
In 1918 the original steam engine was replaced with a petrol one. She continued out of Lakes Entrance even after a sale in 1937 and a name change to Bellbird. In the late 1940s her engine was replaced with one that came from an ex-Army blitz truck.
Lake Tyers became the home of the Bellbird in 1958, travelling back to Lakes Entrance when the entrance to Lake Tyers was open. In 1970 new owners purchased her and she reverted once more to the Rubeena. In 1975 the petrol engine was replaced with a diesel one and in 1993 this was replaced by an electric engine, the Rubeena becoming the first commercial boat in Victoria to have an electric engine. At the time she was Australia's largest electric boat.
In 2013 the Rubeena was purchased by Port of Sale Heritage Cruises and after extensive work continues her proud history of carrying passengers on the Lakes system. Port of Sale Heritage Cruises is a family run business that operates from the Port of Sale and offers cruises twice daily aboard the Rubeena as well as being available for charter outside these times. Relax into her quiet rhythm and enjoy a voyage along the Sale canal and Thompson River, surrounded by red gums, birdsong and reminders of a fascinating heritage. There is ample parking available near the dock.
Opening Hours:
Sailing Times
Cost:
Prices
✆ 0400 933 112 / 0407 067 213
Email Enquiry
Web Links
→ www.saleheritagecruises.com.au
→ Port of Sale Heritage Cruises on Facebook
