Renmark couple Renae and Nathan Horvath recently became the latest caretakers of the 150-year-old, twice-sunken boat.
Mr and Mrs Hovarth were charmed by the Amphibious a few years earlier when they spotted it while on the Murray River.
“We were looking at it, thinking it was just beautiful,” Mrs Hovarth said.
“We didn’t think that we’d be able to get it one day, and then I saw it pop up for sale maybe five years later ... and we were in the right position to buy it.”
After the purchase in Echuca, the couple were left with the task of steering it back to the Riverland along the Murray River, which Mr Horvath said was not an easy feat.
“I’ll be 100 per cent honest: from Barham to Mildura, it’s not a river, it’s a creek,” he said.
Mr Horvath said the course was overgrown and littered with snags, rock reefs and sandbars.
With the help of a few skippers and the Murray River Pilot book, which maps the terrain below the water, the Horvaths made it back to Renmark unscathed.
“What a journey. It’s very stressful doing it in such a large boat. Because it’s so narrow, the current is quite fast,” Mr Horvath said.
“There was one spot where we pulled up, and we all went for a swim, and if you let go of the boat, after three metres you couldn’t swim back. That’s how fast it was running.”
“I wouldn’t do it again in a big boat,” Mrs Horvath said.
Despite the challenges, the Amphibious had the water to herself from Barham to Mildura, and the Riverland journey was uniquely beautiful, Mr Horvath said.
“We are so privileged to have such a nice river,” he said.
“If you ever get a chance to do that experience, from Echuca to anywhere past Mildura, it is an eye-opener that you wouldn’t believe ... the sandbars are absolutely gorgeous.”
The Horvaths have always been fond of paddle boats, and were married at the Port of Echuca in 2016, where the Amphibious has been since 2019.
Their goal now is to get the vessel up and running for river cruises, a task that will require time and work.
The Renmark Paringa Council has not been as supportive as the couple had hoped, and getting the boat certified as a commercial vessel will incur a large cost.
But as the second-oldest boat in the country, and now the oldest in South Australia, the Horvaths believe the Amphibious has a bright future.
“We’ve contacted the minister for tourism in South Australia, and we’re hoping that she can help get the council on board,” Mrs Horvath said.
Mr Horvath said the PS Industry, also based in Renmark, was a popular attraction, seeing its monthly passenger cruises close to capacity.
“The industry is definitely there, but obviously the boats aren’t,” he said.
Now that the Amphibious is back across the border, where she spent most of her working life as a sailing ketch in Adelaide, the Horvaths are confident she’ll be a drawcard.
“We just want to keep the history alive,” Mrs Horvath said.
“And she belongs in South Australia,” Mr Horvath said, with a laugh.
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