 From 1853 , the Riverina was linked to markets through a series of riverboats along the Murray and Murrumbidgee to the river ports of Mannum and <unk> in South Australia and from 1864 , to Echuca connected by rail to Melbourne . Riverboats reached as far upstream as Gundagai and Albury and towns such as Darlington Point , Narrandera and Moulamein became important river ports . The riverboat era peaked in the twenty years from 1870 – 1890 , declining with the coming of the railway and finally ending with the disruption to the workforce caused by World War I. 
