Queenscliff Maritime Museum
Queenscliff can be almost named as an island due to the geographical positioning of the land that is connected to the rest of the Ballerine Peninsula with a small stretch of a highway. It was originally a small fishing village that was named in honor of Queen Victoria but in later years Queenscliff came into prominence due to their activity in guiding ships and boats that steered through the Port Phillip heads, also named as the Rip. Today the place has become a popular tourist destination of Victoria region due to its old fashion values and architecture.The Queenscliff Maritime Museum, located at the waterfront of Queenscliff is one of the must visit places located in the area. The museum was established in 1986 to house and display the last Queenscliff lifeboat. Since then the museum collection has improved into a Maritime Museum that displays the History of Queenscliff, Southern Port Phillip and the Bass Strait interface. (Museum, 2011, p. 01) The main aim of the collection is to display and preserve the documents related to the history and heritage of Southern Port dangers, the wrecks that occurred at the Rip, the rescues that took place throughout the past decades and the people who made the history. (Victoria, 2016) The centerpiece of the collection is the Lifeboat Queenscliff, but the museum also includes other special artifacts such as relics collected from the wrecks took place in Port Philip, a hydrographic model of the Rip and a lighthouse equipment collection. The secondary collections of the Museum include the historical documents and evidence of the fishing industry of the area which are displayed through fishing artifacts, model vessels, photographs and other records. Two of the recent additions to the display is the Deck Skylight of the Iron Sailing Ship Shandon and the Sea Kayak display. (Museum, 2011, p. 02) The museum premises houses several other heritage items such as hulk of Torpedo Boat HMVS Lonsdale which is buried underneath Queenscliff grounds, a fisherman’s cottage made in 1876 and a Fisherman’s Shed from 1856. (Everist, 2009, p. 320)ReferencesEverist, R., 2009. The Complete Guide to the Great Ocean Road: Walks, Beaches, Heritage, Ecology, Towns and Sustainable Tourism Through Southwest Victoria. Torquay, Australia: Best Shot.Museum, Q. M., 2011. Collection Overview Leaflet. 15 September, p. 2.Victoria, C., 2016. Culture Victoria: Queenscliff Maritime Museum. [Online] Available at: https://cv.vic.gov.au/organisations/queenscliffe-maritime-museum/ [Accessed May 2018].
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