When Reverend Harry Monro stands on the bow of Lou Iannacone’s boat, The Amphibious, and looks up at the massive structure which is Echuca Moama’s new bridge on Sunday he will take a moment to appreciate his surrounds.
Reverend Harry has been unofficially enlisted by Lou to “bless the bridge’’ in an on-water ceremony, which is in keeping with the regular ‘’boat blessings’’ that he has conducted over the years.
Being on the water is nothing new for Reverend Harry, and his wife Margaret, who built their own boat from scratch — the hull in Bendigo and the rest of it in Echuca.
“We love the water. Margaret has more than 140 books on the river, river boat captains and the history of the Murray,” Reverend Harry said.
Reverend Harry built his own paddle boat, the Tooraloora, from scratch and it sits proudly in the wet dock at Echuca.
Echuca-Moama shipwright, Adam Audituri, built the hull of the Tooralora in a paddock at the Munro’s Bendigo property.
Mr Audituri operates the slip at Moama, so he has plenty of opportunities to admire his work.
Another Echuca shipwright, Adam Fitton, did most of the super structure work to complete the paddle boat, named after the Irish lullaby.
Reverend Harry was born in Belfast, Northern Island, and arrived in Australia in 1964.
He, Margaret and the Tooraloora were part of a historic trip to Goolwa in South Australia for the wooden boat festival.
They have been using the Tooroloora for about 12 years, the Goolwa return trip the vessel’s greatest test.
“We werent in any hurry. We left Echuca on November 24, got to Mildura for a week before Christmas and docked the boats,” Reverend Harry said.
“We all went our separate ways for Christmas and then left for South Australia on January 3. We got to Goolwa in early February for the festival.”
The trip did not break any records, in regard to the amount of time it took, as the downstream pace of the boat topped out at eight kilometres an hour.
“When we were going against the current it was more like five (kmh). It certainly wasn’t anything like doing 100 (kmh) on a highway,” he said.
This will be Reverend Harry’s first bridge blessing, having performed the ritual on several boats during the years.
“Years ago, in Echuca, they used to have a blessing of the fleet. They would bring all the boats to the wharf is and one of the local ministers would conduct a blessing,” he said
“Captains used to make crosses made out of leaves. John Waters (All the Rivers Run) and I did one together on the Adelaide.”
He described the bridge blessing as “a bit of a fun activity” and a way, as a Christian, of recognising the wonder of the beauty of the Echuca river.
“The Murray River has been so special to us,” he said.
Reverend Harry was ordained 40 years ago and while he is retired, most Sundays you will find him sharing his time between small churches at Barham, Gannawarra, Cohuna and Kyabram.