By Jacqueline Trewin
With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, Venice in Noosa sounds too good to be true, but iconic gondolier Ricardo, aka Richard Wilschke, knows how to steer you in the right direction.
OK, you don’t have the weathered Gothic and Baroque-styled buildings, nor the charm of cruising under the ancient Rialto Bridge along the Grand Canal.
But stepping off a Noosa jetty into the trusted hands of Ricardo, transports you instantly to its Venetian romance as you meander through the pristine waters of Noosa Biosphere.
A true professional, Mr Wilschke has been evoking the romance of Venice for a quarter of a century aboard his gondola.
“It’s a privilege to be able to take people out and share one of the most memorable times in their life when they propose to their partner,” Mr Wilschke said.
“They’ve done something really special and quite often you’re the first person they’ll tell. I always like it as it makes you feel good and included in that moment.”
He should know. Proposing himself the second time to his partner, Tanya, on the gondola proved a huge success.
But as love is in the air, you can always feel it in your Noosa waters when there’s no going past that gondola on Noosa River, even if you’re not the incurable romantic.
“Noosa is really a place where a lot of couples like to spend time,” Mr Wilschke said.
“And the river really lends itself to the gondola experience where there’s lots of smaller boats, and the series of bridges, fantastic canals and waterways.”
But unlike some opera-loving Venetian gondoliers, he says he’d rather leave singing to the professionals.
“People are always asking me to sing, so I usually tell them to wait till they get onboard where I’ll serenade them with Dean Martin, Michael Bublé, Andre Bocelli or a bit of Italian opera,” he said.
At the age of 20, he ditched Magnetic Island for a piece of Noosa action in search of work and ideal surfing conditions.
Already having experience in charter work, Mr Wilschke began working in hospitality at Café Le Monde and the legendary Coco’s restaurant before working in tourism for thrill ride operator, Bill Turner.
“We were doing jet ski rides off Noosa Main Beach and banana (boat) rides back in the early ’90s,” Mr Wilschke said.
“I was also doing off-shore fishing for a local charter business before wanting to do my own thing.”
After returning from Europe in the mid-’90s, his mother suggested the idea of a gondola cruise before joining a gondola ride with friends at Mooloolaba.
“We really enjoyed the cruise and discovered later there was a gondola business in Brisbane that’s been doing it for over 30 years. They had some boats and we managed to get one commissioned from them,” he said.
Families, locals and repeat visitors are also able to enjoy the cruises with Mr Wilshke, who appreciates all his guests’ comments.
“Even just the appreciation from people who may have met hard times, they’ve just needed a really good cruise to relax,” he said.
Mr Wilschke, who has operated Noosa Water Taxi for almost 10 years, says his business had been impacted during the peak period in December when Covid isolation rules for some local restaurants caused major staff shortages.
“Popular restaurants such as Bistro C, Gusto, Rickys and Noosa Waterfront all had some closures then, which definitely slowed things down for us as we take a lot of people to those places,” he said.
“But we’re staying positive about the whole thing with Covid as it’s not interrupting travel now like it did in the last couple of years, so we can look forward to a busier season coming up for Easter.”
For more information visit gondolasofnoosa.com
