Today’s motorist rightly criticises the limited capacity of the F3 freeway which crosses the ‘broad bosom’ of the Hawkesbury River but taking wheels across the Hawkesbury River, north from Sydney has caused travellers pain ever since the early 1800s.  

  Even before wheeled traffic became general, Sydney’s settlers found reasons to travel north from Sydney towards the Hunter River. “Shanks’ Pony” or horseback, according to one’s means was the only way by land and either way required one to cross the Hawkesbury. It was a good reason to use one of the many shipping services along the coast. 
  Ex-convict Solomon Wiseman provided a punt crossing at one of the narrowest parts of the river by establishing a cable punt – powered by hand – just below the present site of the active Wisemans ferry in 1827. A couple of years later he moved up to the present site which makes Wisemans ferry the longest running public transport in Australia. 
  For those unwilling to make the very long detour to Wisemans Ferry there were any number of ad hoc watermen who would take one across the river, for a fee. Some were based in Pittwater but a more effective crossing was near Peates (sic) Ferry near the position of the present F3 road bridge. 
  By 1844 George Peat was servicing travellers using a small boat and was soon to provide a rough punt on which horses were encouraged to stand still while a rowing boat crew pulled the raft across the river. This system existed in 1881 as W.B. Christie said “… a very primitive affair capable of holding up to three horses …” who were induced by fear to stand very still. 
  With the development of the punt service at Wisemans and better bridges a long way up-river the problems of crossing the wider part of the Hawkesbury River seemed to remain firmly in the ‘too hard’ basket all the way into the 20th century until the volume of road traffic north and south of the river created massive traffic jams – sometimes more than 24 hours long – at Wisemans Ferry. 
  The then Department of Main Roads realised there was a need for a road bridge across the river at the lower end but with the country still firmly in the Great Depression, there was no likelihood of such a bridge. The only viable alternative was a punt, but here the problems became almost insolvable. Hauling a Wisemans ferry-type punt over the river width of roughly half a nautical mile would have placed intolerable pressures on the cable wires and mechanism. 
  A constant tidal flow of anything up to three knots at that narrow point, plus reverse surges from making tides would cause regular interruptions to the service. Looking at the self-powered Sydney vehicular ferries, displaced by the harbour bridge in 1932 and at the steam punts of Newcastle, provided one answer but there were fuel problems in the 1930s as in the 2000s.  
  The need for fresh boiler water and to replenish coal bunkers every couple of days would have required the establishment of a large coal dump somewhere near the crossing and regular visits by coastal colliers to sustain it. Liquid fuel – diesel – was the answer and the DMR was quick to order the design and construction of two modern oil-fuelled car ferries. Diesel fuel was, in itself a problem as Australia’s own oil fuel supplies were limited to a small amount of shale-oil and all but the most incurable pacifist could see that there was much international trouble on the way, which could soon restrict diesel supplies. 
  Poole and Steele of Balmain got the job and got on with it. 
  Both ferries were placed in service in 1930 after some problems caused with the construction of the unloading ramps and the timber guides that allowed the Master to ‘slide’ the ferry into its correct position for vehicle work. 
  The DMR, being a road organization, had taken much advice from the Sydney Ferry Co Ltd to operate ferries in Newcastle and now drew upon that organization to provide Masters and some steam/diesel engineers for the new ferries. The ferries’ big diesels brought a new technology for the times and the area and handling them was much different to handling steam plant. 
  Nevertheless, all was eventually successful and the new ferries did exactly what new motor and freeways have done in the 21st century – generated additional traffic. 
  Seemingly suddenly, every motorist in Sydney wanted to drive to the central coast or further afield – long queues grew apace and there were soon letters of complaint to the press! 
  The problem soon became much worse and then, almost overnight, it disappeared.

War!  

  Very quickly petrol was rationed and by 1941 the Australian Army was carefully considering what use it could make of two modern long fuel range, vehicle carriers. 
  Conversion of the two motor lighters by the Army began in Sydney in December 1942. Darwin had been bombed and Sydney had been attacked. The Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway had been won and Australia was no longer anticipating invasion …  
  It was time to start pushing the other way and the Hawkesbury River twins George Peat (AB20) and Frances Peat (AB442) were kept busy around the New Guinea area. While the other old Sydney car ferries Kalang, Koondooloo and a Kara Kara were in service use, their limited coal capacity and short steaming range made them more useful as base ships. 
  The Peat class AB20 and AB442, could carry loads equal to 50 Jeeps at six knots to a maximum range of 4,000 nautical miles. They were armed with light anti-aircraft guns but were generally escorted on their duties. They survived the war.

Meanwhile … back on the Hawkesbury.  

  Fuel restrictions meant that crossing the river was once again difficult. In Newcastle the medium-sized steam vehicular ferry Kooroongabba kept the cross-harbour wheeled traffic running, along with the recently released Hobart steam car ferry Lurgurena. Hobart now had a floating bridge. 
  The Hawkesbury ferry service made do with a retired small coal fired Newcastle car ferry. The 1916 Mildred shouldered the job of carrying Service trucks and traffic and the occasional car whose owner was a fisherman or who had fuel coupons.  
  Truckloads of coal came down from Newcastle to keep her going and when she broke down everything stopped. There were plans to replace her with Kooroongabba at such times but I don’t think it happened. 
  A few hundred metres away the DMR had suddenly decided we must have a road bridge. There was a war on the horizon. Tenders were called in 1938 and work started in July 1939. 
  It is just possible the old Mildred might have heaved an inaudible steamy sigh of relief. 
  With a new road bridge at Peats Ferry one might have thought that getting across the river was now easy but the rail bridge had been giving trouble. Opened to rail use on May 1, 1889 it was quickly a major link between Sydney and Brisbane but, with the war threatening engineers found in 1937 that the rail bridge had become unstable. A new rail bridge was also imperative. In the meantime heavy rail trains crept across at a mere eight km/h. 
  The new road bridge had opened on May 5, 1945 and the new rail bridge opened on July 1, 1946. The war was over and the Hawkesbury River finally had adequate crossings for wheeled traffic.  
  Mildred, George Peat and Frances Peat all needed new jobs!

Finale …  

  Mildred was sold to Westernport, Victoria and worked for a few more years as a car ferry. The Peats were refitted back in Sydney and both sailed to New Zealand to improve the inadequate car ferry service that worked across Auckland’s port. From 1946 under the names Ewan W. Allison and Alexander Allison the Peats carried wheels across the harbour and then came another harbour bridge. They were soon sold to Hobart for use as car ferries. Alexander (ex-Frances) sank in the Tasman while under tow. Ewan (ex-George) made it to Hobart under tow and, as Mangana, worked on the Bruny Island ferry run from 1961 until she was retired as a work barge in 1991.  
  In 2008 she was still in use. Those with back copies of Afloat might note an article in July 1999 ‘The Car Ferry’s Revenge’. Mangana was one of a flock of ferries pressed into urgent Hobart service when Hobart’s big bridge was knocked over. Perhaps the old ferry felt the irony of that disaster?

*Graeme Andrews’ book The Watermen of Sydney can be had from Boat Books, ABC books and all good book stores. Mail order enquiries may be made to Stannard Marine at 02 9418 3711.