2018 – Part 67 – Australian national maritime museum
The visit to the Museum didn’t work out as planned. First, Amber came down with a Migraine and ended her ability to be outside for the day. Secondly, my plans to meet up with a coworker shorten my time at the museum. But what I did get to see was worth every moment.
Getting There
The Australian National Maritime Museum is located on the west side of Darling Harbour. By transit, the shortest walk was from the light rail Pyrmont station. Staying in a central location made this journey a breeze as after a short walk to the Central station, I took the light rail out to the museum.
Temporary Outdoor Exhibit
Before entering the museum there was an exhibit on Containers and how its impact on shipping and transportation.
It’s impressive to read how a standardized container has impacted the world in terms of shipping costs, size of ships, and how they aren’t lost at sea, nor at port. I didn’t get a chance to explore all of the containers, however the first set the stage well for how much impact containers play in our lives.
Museum time!
The collection inside was a solid collection of history, military and migration stories. Before air travel become the dominant method to travel, ships were required for everything. Due to the distance between England and Australia, the museum chronicled how journeys became safer, and faster over time. There was a section that chronicled the mass immigration from Europe that occurred after World War II:
A unique item was that the US military had a ship named after Australia’s capital as a result of a battle during World War II. (Zoom in on the picture to read the story)
The museum also had a collection of boats that set records. The world’s fastest boat was on display along with the boat used by Kay Cottee who was the first woman to sail non-stop, without assistance, around the world.
The exhibit indoors were noteworthy, but the best part of the museum were docked outside.
HM Bark Endeavour Replica
By the time I got outside, I knew I didn’t have time to explore all the ships. I had hoped to see at least two before I had to leave for lunch. The first, and only ship I visited was the replica of HM Endeavour. It was the only ship I visited because the volunteers on board did such a fantastic job of educating me on the history and context of Cook’s sailing to the South Pacific.
It’s worth noting that visiting a museum, gallery or aquarium on a weekday is a great chance to explore without lots of crowds, and for volunteers it’s a chance to have more time to fully explain things on display.
First up, signboards outside of the ship:
Once on board there were quarters that felt unbelievably tiny. One volunteer explained that the original ship was retrofitted and caused the inserted deck to be of an extremely low height. Another volunteer did chuckle while I navigated this area of the crew quarters almost like Quasimodo. It wasn’t pretty but I didn’t smack my head or shoulders on any parts of the ship.
The contrast between crew and officer space was evident where officers did have a minute amount of personal space, whereas crew didn’t have that at all.
Above deck, the tangle of rigging was everywhere.
With my time up at the Museum I didn’t get to explore any of the other 3 ships that were available for tours.
Read more about our trip by clicking here.