Probus North Sydney

 

A Day at the Powerhouse Museum 

We had a very interesting day at the Powerhouse Museum. The exhibition began with paintings of the Garden Palace built at the Domain in 1879, showcasing industrial and applied arts.  This Palace burnt down in 1882 and it was eventually decided to have a permanent exhibition in the powerhouse building at Ultimo.  

We began exploring the new display called 'Eucalyptusdom' which focused on the role wood has played in the early days of Sydney right up to today. A sledge made of spotted gum that went with Sir Douglas Mawson to Antarctica and part of Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth's famous marked tree, made from White Mountain Ash, were some early examples.  

Moving on we sat down to watch the famous working clock, and afterwards we were fortunate to be given a talk about the steam engine Locomotive No 1 which hauled the first passenger train in NSW. The NSW Arts minister, Mr Don Harwin, has confirmed that the Government has officially abandoned plans to relocate this steam engine and the Boulton and Watt steam engine, together with the Catalina flying boat, to the new Parramatta Powerhouse. 

The micro cars were very popular, built after WW2 by production factories no longer building tanks and guns. Featured were the electric car and a favourite, the Gogomobile dart. 

There were several other new displays such as the Clay Dynasty ceramics which showed the transformation of ceramics since 1960.   

Unfortunately many didn’t have time to visit the Display by HSC students: Design and Technology, Industrial Technology and Textiles and Design but some vowed to come back at a later date and spend more time there.. 

We finished at 'Experimentation', exercising before lunch.