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MUSEUM EXHIBITS
The exhibits are many and varied. The
list below outlines the main categories of the collection. Click on a category
for information about that category.
Photos of some of the exhibits have been
arranged into a gallery Click here to view the gallery.
There are other photographs in the left hand column of this page.
Feature Exhibits
The main exhibits are described on separate pages. These include:
Other exhibits
include:
BAY STEAMERS
Before the development of road and rail
transport to Queenscliff the main method of transport from Melbourne and towns
around the Port Phillip region was by sea. Various vessels transported
passengers and freight between Port Melbourne and the main centres around Port
Phillip and Corio Bay.
Two famous vessels are the paddle steamers
Hygeia and Weeroona
which carried thousands of passengers to and from Queenscliff and
Sorrento.
In the Museum are models
of these two vessels, on loan from
Museum Victoria
PS
HYGEIA 986 tons, 300 feet long
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Built in 1890 by
Napier, Shanks & Bell of Glasgow for Huddart Parker & Co. She was built to
compete directly with the popular PS Ozone, and was generally regarded as
one of the fastest and finest appointed paddle steamers ever built for
Australian service with a top speed in excess of 22 knots.
Licensed to
carry 1,600 passengers she operated regular excursion trips each summer between
Melbourne, Queenscliff and Sorrento for 40 years and was often chartered for
company picnics and special events.
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PS WEEROONA 1412 tons, 310 feet 6 inches long
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Built in Glasgow
in 1910 by AS Inglis for the Huddart Parker subsidiary Bay Steamers Ltd. She arrived in
Port Phillip under her own steam via the Suez Canal, Columbia, Batavia (now
Djakarta), Thursday Island, Brisbane & Sydney.
With a capacity
for 1,900 passengers she was the last and largest of the purpose-built Port
Phillip Steamers and remained in service until 1942 when she was purchased
by the US Navy.
She was bought back by the
Australian Government in 1945
and dismantled in Berry
Bay, NSW in 1951.
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MORE HISTORIC
VESSELS REPRESENTED IN THE COLLECTION INCLUDE
DAVID CLARKE
The first
ship carrying assisted
migrants to arrive in Melbourne.
CLIPPER LIGHTNING
The fastest wooden ship ever built. The Lightning burned to her
waterline in Geelong in 1869.
PILOT SCHOONER RIP
The model of the Pilot schooner
Rip is magnificent
There are photos
of the models of Lightning and Rip in the
exhibits photo gallery
HYDROGRAPHIC MODEL OF THE
RIP AT THE ENTRANCE TO PORT PHILLIP AND THE LONSDALE BIGHT
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Horizontal scale: 1:5000
Vertical scale is exaggerated by a factor of 10
Model made by H J Reed, Hydrographer, Queenscliff from surveys
completed in 1983
The exhibit identifies major features of geomorphology,
navigation details, historic wreck sites and points of general interest.
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DIVE DISPLAY
Includes an early Siebe Gorman helmet, suit, hand operated air compressor and
closed circuit breathing apparatus, early scuba suits, regulators, weight belts
and, underwater cameras. A Snead shallow water diving helmet and lever pump
are
also part of the display. Young visitors (and the young at heart) can experience
what it felt like to wear a dive helmet.
CHINESE FISHERMEN
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Amongst the first to settle on the sand flat north of the plank road that
is now Wharf Street in Queenscliff were Chinese fishermen. This sand spit was called Chinaman’s Point,
which later developed into the area of town now known as the 'Flat'. The Chinese
dried and cured fish which was taken up to to their compatriots on the goldfields.
The Museum features an impressive display of Chinese jars and dishes from the Peter Ferrier Collection. Some of these are shown in the photo. |
SHIP WRECK
ARTEFACTS
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Artefacts
on display include items from the SS Time which was
stranded on Corsair Rock in 1949. The salvage rights and cargo were bought by a local consortium of
8 people. Following the removal and sale of her cargo of sugar, timber and
hides an auction of the equipment and fittings from the wreck of the Time was held in the
park at Queenscliff. Many of the items purchased during the auction have been
donated or loaned to the Museum to form an extensive Time collection. The photograph
at right is of Time on Corsair Rock.
The ship telegraph in the left column was salvaged from the Time. |
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LIFESAVING EQUIPMENT
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An important part
of the Lifeboat display is the rocket launching equipment used to bring
stranded people to shore with the help of pulleys, ropes and a breeches buoy.
This equipment, along with a Schermuly rocket pistol, signal pistol, rocket line
throwing apparatus, lifeboat crew wet weather gear, life jackets, armbands
and citations for bravery complement the restored Lifeboat Queenscliffe. |
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SEA
KAYAK DISPLAY
The Sea Kayak used by adventurer
Paul Caffyn to paddle around Australia in 1981/82 was given to the Queenscliffe
Maritime Museum following the 25th anniversary of that first kayak
circumnavigation. Paul's kayak Lalaguli forms the start of a
growing collection which recognises the popularity of the Sea Kayak sport around
Port Phillip.
In 2009 Freya Hoffmeister became the
first woman to paddle around Australia; her kayak is now on display in the
Museum.
Information about the Paul Caffyn
and Freya Hoffmeister journeys
is available here:
HISTORICAL POSTCARDS
An extensive collection of
old
Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale postcards is part of a display of postcards
from around Port Phillip
NAUTICAL PICTURES
Browse the exhibition of nautical pictures on
display including tall ships under sail and early steam ships. Our
Librarian is developing a comprehensive index of pictures of ships that have
brought immigrants to our shores. More information about this index will be
available soon.
MODEL SHIPS
There are many models on display including a
collection of ships in bottles
ALSO......
Anchors from the
Komet and Eliza Ramsden, propellers from a J Class Submarine,
buoys, channel markers and lights are exhibited at the Museum.
Some hands-on activities
include:
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sound a portable fog horn
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ring ships
bells
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try a morse key
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play on Benito’s
Pirate Boat, or on Defiance Too a red wooden boat, both located in
the museum grounds.
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