Unlike in many countries I have visited where passes, cards, etc giving access to multiple sites and museums are commonplace, well advertised and promoted, in Australia, while a few options exist, you really do have to eke them out. Continue reading “Museum Passes and Memberships”
Step back in time with a visit to the Gundagai Historical Museum. This place is a real treasure trove packed (10,000 items, so they claim) with old machinery, photographs, clothing, household items,etc, all depicting life in the town in the late 18th and early 19th centuries – a time of pioneers, gold prospectors and bushrangers. Continue reading “Gundagai Historic Museum”
Gundagai, being roughly half way between Sydney and Melbourne, was for a long time an important transport hub. Sadly, nowadays it is a town most people speed by in a vehicle on the Hume Highway or in a metal tube 30,000 ft above the town. Continue reading “Gundagai Railway Station”
Muggga-Mugga is an 1830’s rural workers’ cottage and as such one of Canberra oldest historic sites – in fact, predating Canberra significantly. A lovely cottage set in beautiful countryside. Well worth a visit. Continue reading “Mugga-Mugga – 1830s Shepherds Cottage”
Perhaps the last thing you might expect to find in Canberra is a railway museum and an excellent one at that.
Well, as of mid 2017 you will just have to imagine it as it went into liquidation, closed down and was sold off in pieces. I was devastated. I have retained my review as it was as, firstly, the lead picture is one of my favourites on my blog and secondly to retain it as a historical record in the hope it might interest someone, in addition to me.
Continue reading “Canberra Railway Museum (Former)”
Calthorpes’ House was built in 1927.
The house, its outhouses and its furnishings, household appliances, photos and the gardens remain virtually unchanged from the 1920s and thus provide the visitor with a genuine insight into the housing style and taste of middle to upper class Australians in the late 1920s. Continue reading “Calthorpes’ House – Pop In While The Family Is Out”
Located in the heart of the city, the Canberra Museum and Gallery (CMAG) is frequently overlooked by visitors who tend to, and with good reason, spend their limited time visiting the national galleries and museums, mostly located in the Parliamentary Triangle area. Continue reading “Canberra Museum and Gallery”
The Gallery was established in 1861 and is located next door to the South Australian Museum on North Terrace.
Except for visiting exhibitions (entry fee payable) you won’t find the work of any classical masters here. What you will find, from its stock of 38,000 works, Continue reading “The Art Gallery of South Australia”
Many people think of Adelaide itself as dated, boring and a bit of a museum. It hardly any wonder then that the main museum there – the South Australian Museum is a “museum of a museum”. While museums world wide are being jazzed up and turned into interactive and politically correct experiences this museum is like entering a time-warp – a museum straight out of the sixties were stuffed animals and locked (though not dusty) display cabinets crammed with artefacts prevail. That said, it has used a more contemporary approach in a few areas – such as the exhibition on the Australian Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson which is appropriately supported by real artefacts of interest.
You are probably thinking that I don’t like the place. Far from it, I love it. Continue reading “South Australian Museum – How Museums Used To Be”
Migration into Australia has been, and continues to be, an emotive topic for many. Continue reading “27% Of Australians Born Overseas – Migration Museum”
The Rambling Wombat 