Australia’s earliest Aboriginal Dreamtime legends tell of the first Australians arriving by canoes from islands to the north of our continent around 50,000 years ago. Some 48 thousand years later, Dutch and English sailors started to arrive. By 1788, the first European arrivals settled (or rather, invaded). What each group had in common was a strong affinity to the water. The Australian National Maritime Museum provides an in-depth study of this timeline for visitors wanting to know a little more about our maritime history.
Not since the Vikings were at the Australian National Maritime Museum have we had a chance to visit the museum with the kids and explore the many exhibits. Whilst the school holidays are reputed as the best time for an adventure inside, we decided to put a regular weekend to the test and see if it would hold the kids interest.
Since our last visit, we have explored the USS Midway in San Diego which cemented the kids love of exploring sea vessels. We decided to head to the vessels as a starting point. (Please note, visitors must be at least 90cm in height to board all vessels.) Our first stop was the HMAS Onslow, a Cold War submarine that was decommissioned back in 1999. We all became quickly overwhelmed by how confined every area of the submarine was from the dining areas to the sleeping areas. Back in its day, the Onslow boasted 60 sailors and 8 officers which completely surprised all of us when we saw how small the bunks were. The kids have decided that only small people could be sailors (this is totally unfounded by any evidence I could find).
After disembarking the submarine, we headed into the new experience Action Stations which opened last November to mark the centenary of World War I and commemorate 100 years of submarine and surface service by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). I was actually surprised to watch the kids engage in this space. They even watched both short video clips in the theatre. There are many hands-on activities in the exhibit which can be used as a prompt for discussion. Miss N was fascinated by the horn tubes that they used to communicate throughout different vessels and promptly went about creating one at home when we got home! The Action Station was so popular with the kids that we spent around 45-60 minutes in this space before heading to the next vessel.
The HMAS Vampire is the largest museum vessel in Australia. It was one of the largest destroyers built in Australia, and in our Navy from 1959 to 1986. It was a high speed ship, but carried a huge arsenal of fire power. Exploring the ship from top to bottom was one of the highlights of the day. We chose to do a self guided tour without any assistance. When you visit, avoid wearing a skirt or dress. There is a lot of climbing and crouching. You will need to navigate confined spaces and you will climb down ladders where a volunteer will be looking up to ensure you are okay.
Our next stop was the Australian-built replica of James Cook’s HMB Endeavour. Last time I hopped on this magnificent ship, I became quite seasick. It became quickly evident that I was going to feel the same way after we hopped on the deck, so I let T explore with the kids after a quick look. I didn’t go below deck, but watched from the shore. Even from afar I found thinking about Captain Cook’s epic 1768-71 world voyage awe inspiring considering the size of the boat in comparison to the HMAS Vampire. If you think about travel accomodation these days, the HMB Endeavour was almost like camping. There were no luxuries. Toileting was done into a bucket and food seemed to consist of a lot of cabbage. Despite this, the Endeavour is breathtaking – absolutely stunning.
By the time we had explored these three vessels, it was lunchtime. We decided to leave the Australian National Maritime Museum although you could enjoy something from their onsite cafe. We returned, hunger sated, ready to explore some more. If you travel with kids, you would know that four hours of exploring were probably pushing it, but we tried. The exhibits were a bit of a blur this time and I wonder if we should start with these next time.
The most disappointing part of the day for me was our experience at the Ships, Clocks & Stars exhibit. All five kids were super excited to spot trail bags and lanyards to use through the exhibit so that they could have an ‘adventure’. The host begrudgingly matched each child to the appropriate bag and lanyard before resuming her discussion with another worker. When I asked if she could explain how to use them, she told us the instructions were all on the lanyard. I still feel a little silly as they were not intuitive so I asked again only to be waved us off. We tried to use the bags and lanyards, but after 5 minutes, gave them all back, briskly walked around the exhibit with five upset kids, and left.
After grabbing our bags from the cloak room, the kids were happy to go home, all of them talking excitedly about the ships they had explored. The volunteers through the day were exceptional on each vessel, providing us with so much information.
Entry to the Australian National Maritime Museum is FREE with entry to the permanent exhibits and under 5s play zone Mini Mariners Play! If you would like to explore the fleet of historic vessels, the latest exhibitions and seasonal blockbusters or participate in Kids on the Deck, you will need to purchase The Big Ticket. A family ticket will cost $75.00 (includes 2 adults and up to 3 children aged 4-15). If you are driving in and park in the carpark under the Novotel, bring your parking tickets along as it can be validated at the Australian National Maritime Museum.
Thank you to the Australian National Maritime Museum for providing us with a family pass on this occasion.