A LARGE crowd of well-wishers have come together at Swan Hill’s Pioneer Settlement to celebrate the diamond jubilee of the PS Gem.
Members of the public were welcomed to an afternoon tea and to take in the new exhibition 60 years to the day after the Gem arrived in Swan Hill.
More than 100 visitors gathered inside one of the Pioneer Settlement’s gazebos to shelter from the rain and listen to the history of the paddlesteamer’s almost perilous journey.
In attendance was Geoff Ward, who was aboard the Gem for the journey and explained what the journey was like for those onboard.
“My father and I went on board together, and earned three pounds a day,” he said. “We were allotted one of those little cabins along the side.”
“There was just a set of bunks and not a lot else. You could barely turn around in there.
“Every morning we would have to pump out the little bit of water that we had taken on overnight. It was a long day’s work, right before we had breakfast we had to get up and boil all our water.
“We didn’t have generators or a phone connection on board so anyone who wanted to jump aboard would stand on the riverbanks and wave out at us, so our smaller boats could go and pick them up for a short trip.”
Mr Ward said the Gem was still good-looking boat.
“It looks pretty good for a boat 60 years on,” he said. “We did quite a lot of work on it on the way down to get it looking tidy, a lot of painting.”
Pioneer Settlement operations co-ordinator Regan Carlson said the exhibition was an important celebration of the effort it took to bring the Gem to Swan Hill.
“We had been planning this event and wanted to do something to commemorate the 60 years,” she said. “It really snowballed from where it began.”
“We knew we had all this room space to display some things, and this exhibition really does focus on celebrating the Gem’s journey on its diamond jubilee.
“We all worked together to scour through all the records that we have, and it’s fantastic to see it turn out as it has today.
“The Gem is such an important part of Swan Hill, for the Pioneer Settlement and for tourism in general.
“It’s a beautiful exhibition, each room has been curated as a mini-story which each forms a part of the bigger story of the PS Gem.
“All those little details and fun moments are all captured there in the rooms.”
