Ballina - Burn's Point Ferry

OK, I'm really scraping the bottom of the barrel here. If you're a dedicated transport historian, you may be interested in the Burn's Point Ferry. It's one of the few remaining cross river car ferries in Australia.

Way abck when, there were no bridges close to Ballina to cross the Richmond River. To get over the river and head south to Sydney, the Burn's Point ferry was built. Originally, there were two ferries plying their way non-stop across the river. Despite this, the crossing was always a major obstruction, with traffic clogged up for miles and miles in every direction.

Today, there is a bridge crossing up river at Wardell. The ferry still runs though, mainly to service the people who live in South Ballina, which is the part of town across the river. I suspect it's also kept busy by anorak wearing ferry enthusiasts.

As your cross the river, you can get out of your car and look at the scenery. At this point, the river is quite wide, so you get views a long distance up the river in both directions. Mind you, it's mostly mangrove swamps at this point, so perhaps the view isn't that amazing.

I must admit, if you've never driven your car onto a ferry before, it can be quite fun. It's only fun the first time though. After that, it's just a delay!