Cairns Museum

In the same building as the old museum was,


... the building of the School of Arts,


... the new one opened in 2017.



It is a beautiful and interesting one,



... and to understand it better, you need to start at the top level.

Top Level - Cairns Timeline and People's Stories

On the top level, is the timeline,



... the local indigenous dispalys,




... the local pioneer displays,



... and the local people's stories.



The timline is a bit of a summary of what level two will go into deeper.



One level down, there are two sections - the Old Cairns, and the Changing Cairns.



As you step in, you can see the inside of the old building's wall.

Cairns Museum - Second Level - Old Cairns

The Old Cairns is about the city before tourism (which changed Cairns a lot).



The seafarers before the roads were built,



... the first settlers,



... who had to adapt to the tropical climate with wet seasons and cyclones,



... plus - not only sharks and snakes, but also poisonous jellyfish and crocodiles. 



There was navigating the Great Barrier Reef,



... and the roads were so rough that Cairns was a frontier town in uncertainty whether it would even survive.



Some of the first industries was sugar cane, which is still big in the area.



There was also the timber from the tropical rainforest,



... and dredging and wharves works.



There is the beautiful verandah with views over the central streets,



... and a movie about wet seasons and cyclones.

Cairns Museum - Second Level - Cairns Changing

On the opposite side on the same level, is the Changing Cairns, and changing it was by tourism.



There are three sections: 1900-1945, 1945-1980, and the 1980 onwards.

Cairns Museum - 1900-1945

People started wanting to see the tropical north, the Great Barrier Reef, and railway was built, even taking people up the hill to Kuranda.



Cruising also became popular, and as you can see if you know Cairns, two cruiser ships - Manoora and Manunda - later managed to name two Cairns suburbs.



But then became the Second World War, and there is a display on that, too.



After the war, there was a wave of immigrants from Europe, shaping Cairns further.

Cairns Museum - 1945-1980

Road, rail and air travel developed, pulling more tourists than the cruising did.



More tourist attractions and infrastructure were built, such as motels along Sheridan Street and Green Island's Marineland Melanesia.



Souvenir trade also evolved with new products with the colours of the tropics.

Cairns Museum - 1980 Onwards

A big thing in the 1980s was the building of the Cairns International Airport.



Now, not only the Australians from the rest of the country, but also Europeans, Americans, Japanese and other international travellers started coming to the tropical destination.



Skyrail and Tjapukai were built, reef tours reached the outer GBR, and in 2003, Cairns got its foreshore swimming lagoon.

Cairns Museum Ground Level - Exhibitions

And finally, the ground level - there are exhibitions - this one was about shells :-)

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Get this 50 pages guide totally for FREE. It contains information that helps you getting started with planning of your trip. You get to make early-stages desicions such as when to go, how long time you should take, how to get there and get around, where to stay (general info), what will it cost.. and a short insight to what is there to see and do in Cape York.

Plan and Bring to the Trip... the full Destination Cape York Travel Guide

This complete 300 pages travel guide is all you need before and during your trip. Besides the background chapters on the peninsula's history and wildlife; and the comprehensive detail about all the places (down to prices, opening hours and full contact detail), it has invaluable information on at least 10 four wheel drive tracks, at least 30 guaranteed FREE camping spots on the Cape (and at least 150 on your way to the Cape), at least 40 best swimming holes, all mapped; as well as practical things - from fuel, roads, wireless internet and mobile phone reception, how to deal with the national parks booking rules; and Aboriginal land entrance and camping permits and alcohol restrictions - to vehicle preparation and accessories and necessary recovery gear by my vehicle-recovery-guy partner). Not to mention locals' tips on how to spot that croc and palm cockatoo ;-)

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