Archives: Discovery Centres

This five hour cruise explores historic Macquarie Harbour, ducking out Hells Gate into the Southern Ocean before passing salmon farm pens and heading serenely up the tannin stained water of the Gordon River. The boat moors by a rain forest on the bank of the river and passengers can explore the huon pine forest, including…

Visitors can see at least some of the six 22 m dish shaped radio telescopes making up the Paul Wild Observatory, which form part of the multi-site Australia Telescope. Even though the dishes are spread out over up to 6 km, they work together, and they can be moved on a very wide guage railway…

Naracoorte is a system of 26 limestone caves, and four of these are open to the public. The various caves were formed over half a million years ago and they are a significant site for fossil research. The Caves are a World Heritage site, recognising the significance of the many fossil deposits, especially of the…

The Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum in Bathurst is the home of the Somerville Collection, the lifetime’s work of Professor Warren Somerville who gathered beautiful minerals from all around the world, as well as from over 100 Australian mine sites. There are two main galleries for fossils and minerals, a temporary exhibition space for travelling shows and a shop. The Museum hosts…

The National Dinosaur Museum has over 300 fossils on display, as well as 23 complete dinosaur skeletons. There are dinosaur dioramas and an outdoor park with lifelike dinosaur models. The museum explores geological history and evolution and there are guided tours on the weekend. There is a gift shop and the museum also hosts children’s…

The Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium is nestled in the grounds of the Mount Coot-tha campus of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens. The planetarium seats 125 people under the dome and it has a new digital sky projector. The observatory has a 15 cm refractor and a 20 cm Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope (note that visitors need to be 150 cm tall to be…

On Mondays there is a 90 minute tour of the Gladstone Power Station starting at 1.00 pm. The power station is Queensland’s largest, with its six turbines generating almost 1.7 GW. The power station consumes about 11 000 tonnes of coal each day and most of the power is used by the nearby aluminium smelter. The tour…

Willie Creek Pearl Farm tours give visitors an insight into the production of cultured pearls from South Sea pearl oysters (Pinctada maxima). Pearling is worth over $200 million to the Western Australian economy and has been a part of life in Broome since the 1880s. As well as hearing about how the oysters are harvested and cultivated,…

The Broome Bird Observatory is on the northern shore of Roebuck Bay, about 25 km east of the township. The site is ideal for watching and recording the comings and goings of hundreds of thousands of migratory birds. The region is home to over 300 species of birds at different times of the year. In…

Tourists have been coming to Summerland Peninsula on the southwest corner of Phillip Island to see little penguins (Eudyptula minor) since the 1920s. At sunset every night the penguins arrive back onshore after spending the day fishing at sea. The beachfront viewing area is set up with tiered seating and lights, and visitors can see penguins in…