Running until January 2023, the Sharks Exhibition at the Australian Museum is a fascinating display detailing everything you would want to know about sharks. From their origins and evolution, to their interactions with humans and the threats to their future, this is a very educational exhibition.
The Displays
Most of the displays have been taken from the museum’s collection, unlike other recent special exhibits which have been sourced internationally. All of the shark models were life-size, which was great because it lets us see how big they really are.
On entering, you are greeted with a prehistoric megalodon jaw, giving you an idea of the size of the largest shark to ever live. Next to this is a model of Helicoprion, with its unusual circular teeth that look like a circular saw.
Once past the prehistoric section, we got to see a range of modern sharks, from the grey nurse and Port Jackson sharks to the dangerous great white and tiger sharks. The largest model was an 8m whale shark (they can grow to 14m).
This was a fun and educational visit and families with kids should love it, with its interactive displays and realistic life-size models.
Megalodon JawHelicoprionHelicoprionTiger SharkPort Jackson SharkGrey Nurse SharkGreat White SharkWhale SharkScalloped Hammerhead SharkFrill Shark
Completed between 1803 and 1839 in the Gothic Revival style, Vaucluse House is one of the few remaining colonial mansions in Sydney still surrounded by its original gardens and wooded grounds. Purchased by colonial explorer, barrister and politician William Charles Wentworth in 1827, it was expanded from a simple cottage to a grand mansion. Wentworth also extended the grounds and surrounding gardens which originally covered most of what is now the suburb of Vaucluse.
Operated by Historic Houses Trust of NSW, part of the NSW State Government, Vaucluse House became Australia’s first house museum in 1915.
Getting There
A large carpark on site provides ample parking if you are driving yourself. The closest bus stop is for bus 325 on Wentworth Road. Bus 325 connects to both the Edgecliff train station and Watsons Bay Ferry.
Entry to the house is through the rear, via the gift shop. Large backpacks are not permitted inside the house and are stored in a cabinet behind the service desk. Entry is free and you get a map which has descriptions of each room.
Vaucluse HouseThe rear of Vaucluse House
The Kitchen
The first major room is the kitchen, which contains some original items including the food safe, dresser and cast iron cooking range. When we visited, the range was lit, so the kitchen had a great wood smoke smell. Arranged around the room pots and pans and other cooking utensils give a sense of what the room would have looked like.
Entry to the KitchenKitchenKitchen
Housekeeper’s Room
Furnished as it would have been in the 1800s, the housekeeper’s room is a small room where the housekeeper lived and performed her duties.
Housekeeper’s Room
Drawing Room
Decorated extravagantly, the drawing room is furnished in the period style of the 1800’s. This room was where potential suitors could meet the Wentworth’s daughters. This room projects how rich and influential family was.
Drawing RoomThe Drawing RoomDrawing Room
Breakfast Room
This room was an informal family dining area, but still nicely furnished and decorated.
Breakfast Room
Bedrooms
Upstairs Bedroom
Wine Cellar
Accessed via external stairs, the wine cellar still contains the arched alcoves for the storage of wine bottles. Despite being warm outside, the cellar was cool, showing how it helped keep the wine in good condition. Next to the wine cellar is the cool store with hooks on the ceiling for hanging cured meats.
Wine Cellar
Stables
Although no longer housing horses, the stables are in excellent condition, with the wooden stalls still showing the marks of horses from 100 years ago.
The Stables
What Did We Think?
The house is in great condition along with all of the period furnishings. We loved walking through the house, seeing how the wealthy lived in mid-nineteenth century Australia.
No longer used by the military, Fort Scratchley is now a memorial to the servicemen and women who served there. During World War Two, the Japanese submarine I-21 attempted to shell Newcastle and the BHP Steel Works. Fortunately most of the shells missed or failed to explode with no-one hurt and only minor damage caused. Fort Scratcheley returned fire but failed to hit the submarine. In doing so, it became the only Australian fort to fire on an enemy ship.
Regularly fired by volunteers, two of the original guns are still in place. Most of the original buildings and tunnels are intact and can be viewed, with guided tours of the tunnels also available.
Now a heritage site, the fort’s buildings and guns from World War Two are still intact. Still operational, the guns are fired each day by volunteers. The upperworks and buildings are free to walk around, but a tour of the tunnels require a ticket as it is a guided tour.
As well as the fortifications, the views over Newcastle and the nearby beaches are fantastic.
Fort Exterior Displays
On entering the fort, you are free to enter all areas apart from the underground tunnels. As the tunnel tours are timed, we booked one and then went exploring the remainder of the fort. At the top of the hill, the 6-inch guns that fired on the I-21 can be seen and you are able to get close to them.
Older muzzle loading guns have been returned to the fort and re-sited where they used to be. The size of the 80-pound cannon really has to be seen to understand how massive it is.
Outside wall of Fort ScratchleyThe fort’s buildings on the upper level80 Pound muzzle Loading cannon over looking the harbour6-inch Nark VII gunsView over Nobbys Beach to the Harbour entrance
Display Rooms
Rooms that used to house soldiers now serve as display rooms showing the history of the fort. A full room is dedicated to Sir Peter Scratcheley who the fort is named after. Another room has a model of the I-21 and some of the shells fired that night.
Display of Sir Peter ScratchleyWeapons displayUniform DisplayWomen’s uniform displayStar shell fired by I-21 on 8 June 1942Model of the Japanese submarine I-21The fort’s gaol
The Tunnels
The highlight of the trip was the tunnel tour which takes you under the fort and into its working areas. The guide was great and full of information about the fort’s past and how it worked. From the magazines that used to store the fort’s ammunition to the gun emplacements it was a comprehensive tour. We were able to get close to most of the guns to get a detailed look.
One of the tunnels, a safety light and stairs leading outOne of the fort’s tunnelsNordenfelt 1 1/2 inch gunThe disappearing gun’s pit. Now covered80 pounder muzzle loading cannonShells in the magazine8 Inch breach loading gunHow the disappearing guns worked
What Did We Think?
This was a great place to visit, because it’s full of local history and amazingly restored guns and displays. Well worth the visit.
To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.
