Iconic Kookaburra River Queens paddle steamers for sale at bargain price
Two tour boats so iconic they once were used to help market Brisbane to the world are up for sale, on Facebook Marketplace, for a bargain price.
Local
Don't miss out on the headlines from Local. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Two tour boats so iconic they once were used to help market Brisbane to the world are up for sale, on Facebook Marketplace, for a bargain price.
The online advertisement for both Kookaburra River Queens paddle steamers was posted a fortnight ago.
One tourist vessel was advertised for $700,000. Formerly named the Harbour Ballroom, it was brought up from Sydney in 2020 to replace one of the two original Kookaburra Queen paddle wheelers, which was scrapped at a shipyard in June last year.
The other original paddle wheeler was being offered for sale for $800,000.
The vessels were tied up for almost two years at Colmslie near the Raptis seafood outlet.
They paddle wheeler could carry up to 430 people and a crew of four. Its current condition was not known.
The former owner of the vessels, Gold Coast Boats, was placed in liquidation in late 2022.
Angry customers, including one bride who was forced to find an alternative wedding reception venue at short notice, took to the company’s Facebook page at the time claiming they had been chasing deposits for weeks with no response.
Liquidators said at the time that they would investigate indemnifying debts by selling the assets, including the paddle wheelers.
The business was one of a dozen issued with eviction notices early in 2022 by Eagle Street Pier owner, property giant Dexus Funds Management, which later demolished the site for a huge $2 billion, two-tower project.
In a steep downfall for the boats once used to promote Brisbane tourism, the closure followed a run of floods, eviction from their base at Eagle Street Pier and battles with insurers over a 2019 collision.
Four people were injured during the collision with an unknown object near the Story Bridge.
The impact caused the floor of the middle deck to buckle and a person on that deck to fall 2m onto the lap of another person in the toilet below.
Three people were transported to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital with minor injuries after the vessel safely returned to Eagle Street Pier.
Originally published as Iconic Kookaburra River Queens paddle steamers for sale at bargain price
Crime scene after house gutted by fire at Darra
A crime scene has been established after a home was gutted by fire in Brisbane’s southwest overnight.
‘Ridiculous’ union-backed flyer ignites debate over campaign tactics
Voters have slammed a union-backed flyer warning of LNP plans to sell a major hospital as “desperate politicking” with the sitting MP blindsided by the letterbox drop. See their reaction on video.