Canberra: National Museum of Australia

On a quiet Saturday — surprising since this is a three-day weekend … Monday is Canberra Day — we had ourselves a two museum day.

First up was the National Museum of Australia.

I’ve said this before … Australia knows how to do museums well. The quality of the exhibits are exceptional … and a great many of the national and state museums are “donations gratefully accepted.” This one, which “preserves and interprets Australia’s social history, exploring the key issues, people and events that have shaped the nation. …” was no exception.

Having been established in 1980, it is a relatively young museum. In fact, it wasn’t until 2001 that a purpose-built permanent home was constructed. Exhibits cover 50,000 years of Aboriginal heritage and the settlement of the country since 1788.

One brochure states that the museum has the largest collection of Aboriginal bark paintings. Then there are displays that include the heart of Phar Lap, a champion race horse; the prototype Holden car; a delicate porcelain chamber pot; minerals and fossils; and more. A good amount of space is dedicated to the natural disasters — cyclones and bushfires in a particular — that plague the country frequently.

In other words … a very eclectic collection, which I tried to portray in this footprint with the photos I selected to share.Read more