tourists as history

I must admit I really love museums (I know I’m strange). Anyway bearing that in mind I convinced the family that they should go to the Bateaux Jouets exhibition at the Maritime Museum (I lured them there with the promise of lunch afterwards at Darling Harbour).

Whilst they were looking at the toy boats I wandered off to the exhibition about the life on the Murray Darling River. And indeed this exhibition did deal with the life on this river- the ecology, the people and the boats which were the life-blood of the community along this river. Apparently with the introduction of the railways, boat transport decreased considerably along the river to a point whereby tourism was introduced.

As a result “nostalgic” river boat cruises were introduced along the Murray, where people could immerse themselves in the sights and sounds of a bygone era. I’m not sure if life on a river boat included a BBQ lunch with wine, but nevertheless the cruise seems almost like a re-enactment, except instead of having Stephen Gapp’s team of re-enactors, the tourists are the players. And while not being able to control the environment, the tourist nonetheless can control the experience – so does it really create an experience of “what it must have been like”? Maybe I’m just being too fussy & I should just sit back and enjoy the BBQ lunch as I cruise back in time.

Pip