Rockfords discussion

So as promised, here's a little TR from the PS Marion Steam Powered trip by Rockford. I'll write it up here and then follow up with some pictures in following posts.

We were told to arrive in Mannum at the dock between 4pm and 5:30pm. From Adelaide's eastern suburbs this was a little over an hours drive. There were a total of 28 guests in 14 cabins.

The PS Marion was originally built in 1897. The crew these days are all volunteers. It's a wood fired heater that creates to the steam to drive the paddles. They've done their best to keep the boat as close to the original as possible. Each cabin is pretty basic but spotless. It contains a bunk bed setup with the stop one being quite small. Being all wood, you can certainly hear your neighbours snore at night. Take ear plugs! Shared ablutions which were constantly spotless. Hot water comes from the steam engine, So endless and piping hot. Showers/toilets have a little window so you can watch the world go by while showering.

The main dining room is on the bottom deck. There's a saloon lounge on the mid-deck and the old smokers room on the top deck. Several outdoor spaces to just sit and watch the world (well South Australia) go by.

After boarding and everyone arrived, welcome drinks and canapés were provided in the old smokers lounge. There was some spirits, beers, Jansz was the sparkling white and Rockford wines served. Later that evening dinner was served in the dining room followed by a concert in the saloon lounge. The boat went on a short trip up the river and docked back at Mannum for the evening.

Saturday morning coffee/tea and couple of little snacks were available for breakfast. We departed Mannum and headed upstream for the day. At 10:30am "brunch" commenced. This consisted of 6 courses, plenty of wine and went on till around 2pm. Perhaps an hour later we pulled up at the bank of the river in the middle of nowhere for the night. If you wished, you could get off and go for a walk, which we did. Later that afternoon tea and cake was served in the saloon bar.

Saturday night is the "big" dinner. Dress was suggested as black tie. Was great to see more people made the effort. It started with drinks and canapés in the smokers lounge before moving to the dining room for the extravaganza. Menus will be posted in a following post. It was a fun evening!

Sunday morning was a repeat of Saturday with breakfast, followed by brunch, this time at 11am. We headed off in the morning back to Mannum. Brunch wasn't quite as long as the previous day and not quite as much wine, but there was no going hungry or thirsty. We got back to Mannum around 2:30pm and that was it.

In summary, it was phenomenal. While wine wasn't unlimited in quantity, there was plenty to go around with the meals. I think it was four bottles of each wine, so that's one bottle per seven people. They brought out some great old wines and I'd say a step up from what you get at the cellar door Stone Wall lunches. The chef for this trip was Jack Ingram who did an amazing job. Quality was top notch.

Initially I was wondering how it would go with the rooms looking a bit on the basic side. However, you're really not spending much time in your room other than sleeping and getting changed. The first night the snorers kept me up. Ear plugs in the second night and I slept like a baby.

I'd highly recommend the experience. Those with mobility impairments though might struggle given OH&S was a little different in the late 19th century. That and the bunk beds.

I'd certainly consider doing this again in future. Maybe not in the next few years, but would again.
 
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Rockford Rag arrived in the west today. Ordered 6 of the BP and BS. Will figure out some more at the cellar door at a future date. Partly because I feel their shipping costs are a little over the top!
 
Daver6 said:
Rockford Rag arrived in the west today. Ordered 6 of the BP and BS. Will figure out some more at the cellar door at a future date. Partly because I feel their shipping costs are a little over the top!
Click to expand...
The link above says BP is no longer available at the cellar door...do they mean forever, or just that vintage sold out?
 

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