Oz Houseboats, operated by Peter and Sonia Somers is a great operation. After getting my times wrong we turned up 4 hours early to be trained and to take possession of Jubilee 2. Not to be phased by this, Peter arranged for Sam to change his schedule and sort us out early. Sam’s training and general advice about operating on the river was first class. Practical, to the point and comprehensive. Thank you Sam! Jubilee 2 was as advertised. Three minor faults, one of which we were able to fix. The extractor over the stove was inoperative, as was the top deck light. There were quite a few big kitchen knives in the kitchen drawer – all of which were blunt. I reckon the blunt knife problem had been solved over the years by people purchasing new knives which eventually went the way of the old. We purchased a knife sharpener and they are all now sharp – except for the bread knife which was beyond our sharpener. The houseboat is very user friendly and practical for 4 people. It would be OK for 4 adults and 2 children but a very big squeeze for 8. Our trip was in August and it was cold on the river – falling to freezing on our first night. Like most houseboats, Jubilee 2 has a lot of glass, and we needed every rug in the boat + two hot water bags we purchased at Mannum. Anybody contemplating travelling during winter should take extra layers of bed-time clothing and a doona to counter the cold (and hot water bags). The houseboat is well equipped, and the living area is practically laid out. The upper deck is spacious and a very nice place to sit back, relax and enjoy a drink after a day’s houseboating. We also learned, to our happy surprise, that Jubilee 2 was an ideal platform for astronomy. We took along a small telescope, a variety of lenses and a high quality camera – returning home with good pictures of the moon, Jupiter and it’s four Galilean moons. For anybody thinking about a houseboat cruise on the Murray, we highly recommend that you turn thought into action and Oz Houseboats are the perfect people to do it with.
