Raymond Island Ferry
The Raymond Island Ferry provides the only link between the island and the mainland, but also acts as an effective barrier to faster development of the island community. A ferry has run between Paynesville and Raymond Island since 1889, and has been an integral and sometimes controversial feature of life on Raymond Island. Some continue to call for the ferry to be replaced by a bridge; others believe the ferry is an integral part of life on the island. In 2011, the East Gippsland Shire Council is conducting another review of "Raymond Island Access", based on an action to "Develop a plan to resolve access to Raymond Island" in the Council Plan 2009-2013. This follows earlier considerations which reached a decision to maintain the existing ferry service (e.g., in 2003 ). Before the current ferry was commissioned in 1997, the topic was the subject of an academic paper in the Rural Society Journal which examined "the controversy over the proposal to link Raymond Island, Victoria to the mainland through construction of a bridge, to replace the current ferry service". Ultimately, the issue has been discussed for decades without being permanently resolved, and opinions remain divided about the relative merits of ferry versus bridge.
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Famous quotes containing the words island and/or ferry:
“We approached the Indian Island through the narrow strait called “Cook.” He said, “I ‘xpect we take in some water there, river so high,—never see it so high at this season. Very rough water there, but short; swamp steamboat once. Don’t paddle till I tell you, then you paddle right along.” It was a very short rapid. When we were in the midst of it he shouted “paddle,” and we shot through without taking in a drop.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
““Ferry me across the water,
Do, boatman, do.”
“If you’ve a penny in your purse
I’ll ferry you.””
—Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830–1894)