Sedan 2000 har Museum of Tropical Queensland - den enda grenen av museet norr om Brisbane - utforskat kulturen, traditionerna och arvet i detta mångsidiga område. Besökare kan lära sig mer om HMS Pandoras historia - ett berömt skepp som sjönk utanför Cape Yorks kust i slutet av 1700-talet och undersöka återvunna artefakter som visas i museumshallar. En annan utställning lär till och med gästerna hur man laddar och skjuter en kopia av en av fartygets kanoner.
Månatliga föreläsningar och unika utbildningsprogram är bara en del av det som gör en resa till Museum of Tropical Queensland minnesvärd. Och Enchanted Rainforest, som utforskar det olika ekosystemet - komplett med repbro och rutschkana - är ett populärt stopp för besökande familjer.
At the Museum of Tropical Queensland you can find out what life has been like in Northern Queensland over the centuries, from prehistoric times until the modern day. Highlights include the Enchanted Rainforest section, which replicates a rainforest, and the HMS Pandora gallery, which displays hundreds of artifacts from the wreck of the ship of the same name, which sank off Cape York in 1791. The museum also puts on a lot of public programs, including daily talks about various aspects of the collection. Most travelers visit the museum independently while spending time in central Townsville.
The museum is in central Townsville, about ten minutes’ walk from the Flinders Street Mall. Paid parking is available outside the museum, and free parking can be found just down the road, on The Strand. The Sunbus 1A travels between the mall and the ferry terminal, and can stop outside the museum.
The museum is open daily from morning until early evening. It’s closed on some Australian public holidays. Locals get free entry on the second Tuesday of the month, making this a good day to visit.
The Museum of Tropical Queensland is next door to another educational attraction, the Reef HQ Aquarium. The 660 thousand gallon (2.5 million liter) tank houses the world’s largest living coral reef within an aquarium. More than 150 species of fish and 120 species of coral can be found here. The two attractions can be visited on the same day.