Meet Our Crew

Jock Veenstra

***Director & Skipper***
Jock began his career as a boat builder, learning his trade in the shipyards of Rotterdam. Bringing his trade back to Australia, he built the largest ships to travel the River Murray including the “Murray Princess”.
**Jock** started the business in 1967 as Director of the company. Jock has now passed the operations mantle to his son Michael, keeping the family business thriving. Jock is a wealth of knowledge in the industry and what he enjoys most about his role, is chatting and working with people from all over the world while on board our tours.
**Experience -** Lifetime Murray Masters Certificate, MED 3, Marine Engineer Driver (steam) and Master (to 24 meters NC).

Michael Veenstra

***Director & Skipper***
Michael is 3rd generation River Murray Captain and has been working in the business since 1992. Michael is the Director along side his father Jock and skippers “Spirit of the Murray” and “Spirit of the Coorong”.
Michael ran the slipway for 30 years building and repairing boats, including the construction of our vessels, ‘Spirit of the Coorong’ and more exclusively the building of ‘Spirit of the Murray’.
**Surprising Fact:** Michael lived on board the ‘Captain Sturt” Paddle Steamer for the first 18 years of his life.

Joel Hirsch

***Manager & Skipper***
Joel loves the diversity of his role, from developing new tours, to jumping onboard the boats & tour guiding through truly magical places. Joel also enjoy the feeling of being a part of a small family owned business & sharing experiences and knowledge with passengers from all around the world. Joel obtained an Eco-Tourism degree from Flinders Uni and has worked in the tourism industry for 20+ years in a variety of jobs; from Tasmanian bush walking companies, to farm stay experiences, to educational tourism. Joel has had a very pro-active role in tourism & marketing, including the executive board of the “Tourism Industry Council of South Australia -TiCSA’ & a judge for the South Australian Tourism Awards.
**Surprising Fact:** Joel’s beard holds all the secrets to the Coorong National Park!

Tia Harding

***Ecology Co-ordinator, Crew & Reservations***
Growing up in Adelaide, only across the road from the beach Tia has always had a love for the ocean. Tia completed a Bachelor of Science in Animal Behaviour at Flinders University. During her undergrad Tia was lucky enough to travel to Palau and the Maldives to study tropical marine ecosystems. Tia loves working in the Coorong National Park, the amount of wildlife she gets to see daily is unreal. Each day brings new sightings, experiences and having the opportunity to interact with visitors to the region adds another layer of fulfilment to Tia’s work. Tia believes meeting people from all walks of life who share a passion for nature and adventure is incredibly rewarding.
**Surprising Fact:** My glasses aren’t real, I just look good in them.

Kirk Mustart

Skipper

Kirk has been lucky enough to spend most of his working career on the southern ocean in the fishing industry. Charter fishing, Scale fishing, Crabbing and Cray-Fishing to just name a few. He’s loaded with local fishing knowledge and information.

Avid lover of our beautiful state, ocean and wildlife.

In his spare time you will find him out catching some of our amazing local seafood from the beach or boat and camping on a secluded beach.

Favourit Spot on the Fleurieu: The Pages Islands!

Bain Pedler

***Skipper***
Bain started in 1974 & has been on the team here for 50 years
Bain has seen a lot on the tours throughout the years and has passed through the Goolwa Barrage/Lock ~6700 times. Bain enjoys showing the passengers the Coorong National Park as the scenery changes daily, so there is always something new.
Bain received his Captain ticket in 1979 on our first boat built for the business the ‘Aroona’. His role for most of the time has been Captain on Aroona I, Aroona II, PS Mundoo, Spirit of the Coorong I, Spirit of the Coorong II and Spirit of the Murray. Bain’s qualifications include Murray Master, Steam Engineer, Marine Engine Driver, Shipboard Safety & First Aid.
**Surprising Fact-** Bain owns a classic car & is a member of the Historic Vehicles Club Fleurieu Peninsula.

Meropi Hirsch

***Reservations & Crew***
Meropi or Mez started working in the reservations team in 2022, since then her passion for the tourism sector has grown. Mez has a strong customer service and hospitality background, but what she loves most about her role, is getting to work in an ever-changing industry and growing her wildlife and environmental knowledge of our Fleurieu Peninsula.
**Favourite Spot on the Fleurieu:** The Coorong, especially through Autumn.

Jessica Heyer

***Crew***
Jessica has a double diploma in Outdoor Recreation and Tourism and has recently completed a Bachelor of Science - Marine Biology. Spending many years as an outdoor educator to school kids, facilitating camping expeditions. Jess love’s working in a space where She can show people the incredible environment that is right on our doorstep. Allowing people to make connections with the land is so important for protecting those places.
In her spare time, you'll find Jess out in the garden, away travelling and generally doing all things outdoors. Jess says “I’m so lucky to call the Coorong and coast my 'office' and I can't wait to share it with you”.
**Surprising Fact:** Jess knows all of Patrick Swayze’s moves from ‘Dirty Dancing’.. nobody puts baby in the corner!

Carol Pedler

***Catering***
Carol has been working for the team for a many number of years, catering for almost all the vessels to pass through the fleet. Carol also used to crew on our vessels ‘Aroona’ & ‘Aroona II’.
These days you’ll find Carol preparing the onboard lunches and morning/afternoon teas each day, while also making time for her family and taking their dog Maggie for a walk to grab a fresh made ice coffee after work.

Alicia Wollaston

***Crew & Reservations***
Alicia is finishing up studies at Flinders University in a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology & Palaeontology. Alicia has been fortunate enough to experience some incredible field trips - from turtle conservation in the Maldives to excavating fossils at Wellington caves (NSW). Alicia absolutely love’s working for Spirit of the Coorong, every day on the water brings new surprises. She enjoys having a chat to visitors from all corners of the world and believes talking to people about our environment is the first step to helping it.
**Favourite Spot on the Fleurieu:** Raywood Nursery in Deep Creek during Autumn and Winter- seeing the change of seasons is absolutely incredible and Rapid Bay beach during the summer- best spot for a snorkel and kayak!

Yasmine Hilton

Crew & Reservations

Starting out swabbing decks and furling sails on old wooden ships for Sydney Harbor Tall Ships. Yasmine has experience in the Whitsundays and The Murray River, as a deckhand on board the Murray Princess. Yasmine is drawn to the Eco-Tourism value in our brands and likes to keep active, her favourite part of the job is meeting new people each day, getting to work in some of Australia’s most beautiful places and learning all about the environment we work in.

Favourite Spot on the Fleurieu: Has to be Deep Creek National Park, just down the road from Wirrina Cove, hiking the trails by day, spotting kangaroos at night, and taking in the stunning views of the wild Fleurieu coastline.

Leah Law

***Crew***
Leah is an avid animal lover, her passion for the natural environment and the wildlife we encounter is expressed in the way she makes sure every passenger is enjoying their experience out in the Coorong on tour.
Leah like all great guides, is a chocolate fiend. so be ware when jumping on board..

Nick Brauer

***Maintenance***
Nick is our resident maintenance man, always doing the odd jobs here and there but also supporting our crew to maintain the vessels, slip yard and reservations office. Nick enjoys being able to continuously improve and maintain the boats to a high standard so that each passenger has a comfortable and enjoyable tour.
**Surprising Fact:** In his down time, Nick crafts and rides timber surfboards!

Our History

M.V AROONA

Since 1967 the Veenstra Family have been operating day tours to the Murray Mouth and into the Coorong National Park from the historic Port of Goolwa. It all began when Keith Veenstra built the 65 passenger timber cruiser “Aroona”(aboriginal for “flowing waters”) at his slipway at the Captain Sturt Marina in September 1967.

M.V AROONA II

In 1980 Jock Veenstra (Keiths son) built the multi deck steel cruiser “Aroona 2” carrying 140 passengers to replace the first “Aroona”. The “Aroona 2” was the largest vessel to navigate the Goolwa lock being 28 metres long, 6 metres wide and 3 levels high.

P.S MUNDOO

In 1986 Jock built the “P.S. Mundoo” a steel Paddle Steamer 30 metres long, 12 metres wide with a passenger capacity of 200 powered by a Garret and Sons 16 HP steam engine originally from the Paddle Steamer “Pyap”. The “Mundoo” did luncheon cruises around the Lower Murray at Goolwa as well as extended day cruises between river towns from Goolwa to Renmark. In 1988 Jock and his wife Carla hosted the Prince and Princess of Wales for lunch on the P.S. Mundoo during Bi-Centennial celebrations at Goolwa.

SPIRIT OF THE COORONG

In the 1990’s Jock diversified into “Eco-Tourism” with the construction of the 15 metres high speed passenger vessel “Spirit of the Coorong”. This enabled passengers to travel further than before into the Coorong and with bow loading, guided walks into more remote areas inaccessible with larger vessels.

SPIRIT II

In 2002 another high speed passenger vessel was constructed to enable transit through the Tauwitcherie Lock. “Spirit of the Coorong II” was 13 metres long & 3.5 metres wide carrying 32 passengers. This vessel also began extended cruises between Goolwa & Mildura where passengers cruised the river by day and overnighted in a different Riverland hotels by night. Due to the success of this further diversification cruises with “Spirit 2” then offered the entire length of the River Murray ‘Goolwa - Albury’ along with ‘Gippsland Lakes’, ‘Myall Lakes’, ‘Hawkesbury River’ & ‘Brisbane river - Moreton Bay’.

SPIRIT OF THE MURRAY

2005 saw the construction of our latest passenger vessel “Spirit of the Murray” (built by Jocks son Michael). Due to the success of the Goolwa to Mildura cruising route Spirit of the Murray was commissioned to provide more capacity and comfort for this extended cruising. Spirit of the Murray is 20 metres long and 6 metres wide a catamaran design built from Balsa Wood and Fibreglass.

A family owned business operating water-based tourism for over 50-years & 4-generations. A selection of our vessels over the years can be found above & if you interested to learn about the incredible history of the ‘Veenstra Family’ & their boat-building/tourism dynasty see the book below:

AGAINST THE CURRENT

A remarkable story of Dutch-born shipbuilder Keith Veenstra who came to Australia in 1951, with wife, Miep, and two-year old son, Jock. From humble beginnings began a dynasty that now spans generations & over 50 years of cruising.

PURCHASE BOOK

Meet Our Crew

Our History

Our Vessels

Awards & Accreditations