This Moruya Historic Bus Tour was a part of the Well-Being Australia 'Australia's Bush Orchestra' tourism ministry which was a bush walk under a canopy of ironbark under the sound of bird song (Bell Miners which are commonly referred to as Bell Birds).
This bus tour ended up at Australia's Bush Orchestra where patrons could meander around on bush tracks and enjoy a cuppa and a chat.
The Moruya Historic Bus Tour commentary was developed on paper and given to Dean Davis of Dean Davis Productions who provided a cassette recording from the notes provided. He allowed for time slots governed at 60 kilometres an hour.
When on the hop-on / hop-off coaches, the cassette tape was given to the driver, he'd slot it in, and for one hour the timing was inevitably spot on f
or the tour route.
Moruya has quite a history. The Court House was of course, as in most communities, was the first public building in 1865. It was the central staging post for freight to the Araluen gold rush of the 1860s and early 70's, and there were three bridges built over the river, the first two were washed away in floods.
The first church in Moruya was the Methodist (Wesleyan) followed by the Catholics and then the Anglicans (all stone buildings). Both these churches set up schools from their establishment. Today there is a Presbyterian Church, a Baptist Church and several Pentecostal congregations. It has a significant church attending population.
From Moruya came the granite that gave the Sydney Harbour Bridge its pylons and the Cenotaph stone. The 1920 and early 30s saw Moruya grow exponentially with the granite mine.
It was from this era that one of the towns most famous Grand Houses was constructed. A Mr McDonald was the mine manager and his large grand house was situated on the other side of the river. He would row to work.
The more palatial grand house was Orana House along Araluen Road. It was from here that the first wheat from the south coast was shipped to Sydney (1878), the first stock droving overland to Adelaide (1893) and the first Black Swans sent to Queen Victoria in England (1895).
The Moruya Historic Bus Tour noted all these adventures along with bushranger stories, the wonderful fishing in the river, the bird life and Aboriginal settlements of the area.
Moreover, fame came from the Moruya district as Dame Nelly Melba grew up in Bodalla, and her grand son in none other than actor Mel Gibson. Theatrics has never left Moruya, for the biggest show of the year is undoubtedly the annual Jazz Festival, the third weekend of October.
Moruya's latest claim to fame is the biennial $15,000 Basil Sellers Art Prize initiated by Mark Tronson in 2004 as part of our Art Ministry at the Basil Sellers Art Centre. The Eurobodalla Shire Council took on the responsibility of running the Art Prize in 2006 and the art prize now includes the four most southern Shires of NSW including Bega and the Snowy Mountains.