DETAILS

FULL LENGTH TOUR DESCRIPTION
Travel a short distance with your driver and guide to Fisherman’s Wharf Pontoon where your vessel, Spirit of the Port, will be waiting for you.  Once you settle into this charming motor cruiser, you will be offered a welcome drink of Champagne or orange juice.

Cruise into the Jervois basin as your captain provides entertaining and well researched commentary, supported by images of the past on a large flat screen TV.  Learn about the history of the area and hear some of the local stories of bridges, docks and ships.  Cruise past the old ‘ship breaking’ area where some of the ships seen later in the Ships Graveyard were broken up for scrap.  See the historic old flour mills, the old wharves and canal, and the new housing developments.

Travel along the wharves and under several bridges as the boat enters the North Arm of the Port River Estuary.  Here on the southern shores of Garden Island is the rotting and rusting remains of 22 timber and iron hulled ships in one of the worlds most diverse and accessible ship’s graveyards.  Built between 1856 and 1920, and beached on the tidal flats up until the 1940s, some have been heavily salvaged, others not.  Several of these ships are historically significant vessels.

Encroaching mangroves make access from land to this historic shipping site extremely difficult but the shallow draught of the cruise boat allows a stop almost between some of the wrecks for close up photographs of the graveyard area.  Manoeuvring close to several of these ships the captain provides information about them while images of the ships in their heyday are projected on the TV screen.

You will be served a delicious lunch of cold meats and salads, accompanied by wine, tea and coffee as the cruise heads up through the navigation beacons to St Kilda.  Passing extensive tidal flats and seagrass areas teeming with bird-life the captain provides information about some of these birds and about the pod of dolphins that call the Port River home.  Watch out for these dolphins during the cruise as they usually make at least one appearance, sometimes to play in the wake or sometimes just cruising past.

The Mangrove Interpretation Centre at St Kilda will provide you with a wealth of information about the mangrove eco system before you take an optional self-guided walk of up to 2 kilometres along the eco boardwalk.  Winding amongst the mangroves, tidal flats and channels of the Barker Inlet Aquatic Reserve, interpretative signage along the way explains the eco systems associated with the mangrove forest.

Returning to the vessel, the cruise travels back into shallow and narrow Broad Creek (tide permitting) lined on either side by mangroves, to see the old disused munitions wharf and railway tracks.  If the tide does not permit this, then you will cruise into the Angus Inlet past the marinas and another small ships graveyard to the Torrens Island Power Station.  In the Angus Inlet, watch for the dolphins again.

Afternoon tea will be served as the cruise returns back to the Fisherman’s Wharf Pontoon, where you will reboard the coach for a transfer back to your ship.

SHORT LENGTH TOUR DESCRIPTION
Travel a short distance by coach to Fisherman’s Wharf Pontoon. On arrival at your awaiting vessel, the Spirit of the Port, you will be offered a welcome drink of Champagne or orange juice. Journey along Adelaide's historic Port River and learn about its life as you cruise into one of the largest accessible Ship's Graveyards in the world. Enjoy a buffet lunch while keeping watch for the Port River Dolphins and the variety of wetland birds in the estuarine waters before wandering through a mangrove forest on a self guided boardwalk. You will be served an afternoon tea as the cruise returns back to Fisherman’s Wharf Pontoon, where you will reboard the coach for a transfer back to your ship.

TIMING BREAKDOWN
00:00   Depart from the pier and transfer to Fisherman’s Wharf
00:15   Arrive at Fisherman’s Wharf and board Spirit of the Port
00:30    Begin your cruise on Spirit of the Port
05:30   Arrive back at Fisherman’s Wharf and disembark
05:45   Transfer back to Outer Harbour
06:00   Arrive back at your ship

Approximate Duration: 6 Hours

OPERATIONAL NOTES
-    Tour includes coach transfers, driver and guide, Spirit of the Port Eco cruise
-    Activity level – Moderate
-    This tour does not operate on Tuesdays and Saturdays
-    Buffet lunch consists of cold meats, cheeses, fresh bread roll and salads.  Due to the restrictions of the galley, the meals are brought aboard pre-prepared and served in individual meal trays. Wine, soft drinks, mineral water are served with the meal (2 glasses of wine per person)
-    Wildlife spotting is not guaranteed

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