There are special collections which are only displayed for several months at a time. One of these, Energex Playasaurus Place, showcases prehistoric animals, plants, rocks, and relics. There are life size dinosaurs and molds of dinosaur foot prints. You can watch replicas of dinosaur eggs hatch before your eyes. This section of the museum houses millions of fossils, from plant seeds to dinosaur bones, all indigenous to Australia.

The museum has large displays of native insects, frogs, and venomous snakes. Cockroaches, the largest in the world are on display, live. A gigantic Redback spider is displayed. If bugs are not for you, one might enjoy seeing a World War I German tank, the only one of its kind.

The scientific section of the museum is divided into three sections: Action Stations where arches can be constructed with gigantic blocks. There are crazy torso changing mirrors. The Body Area offers a bicycle ride where your skeleton appears in a mirror, as you pedal. The third is the Earth Zone. Discovering the planets occurs here, then learn about lightening, or what lies deep inside the earth.

Queensland Museum South Bank offers all displays free of charge, except an occasional collection that requires a fee.

The Museum of Contemporary Art specializes in one thing only and that is contemporary art. This museum features art from all over the world and Australia. This creates incredible viewing option that art lovers will enjoy. The Art Gallery of New South Wales was established in 1897 and is a museum that specializes in Australian, European, and Asian art. There are more styles and options of art to view than there is in the Museum of Contemporary Art.

There are also some great history museums in Sydney that showcases both the history of Sydney and Australia. The Sydney Mint would be one of these as it is the oldest building in the central business district of Sydney. The Sydney Jewish Museum’s main purpose is to teach about the Holocaust and some Jewish history of Australia. The Hyde Park Barracks is an incredible site to view and is now open as a Museum. Its original purpose was to house convicts.

The Queensland Museum has a number of interesting exhibits on display. One that is very popular is the national carriage collection. This display is a historical representation of the horse drawn carriage in Australia. There is also an amazing science exhibit, the Megawatt exhibit, that will answer many questions about electricity. Some of the questions the exhibit asks are how is electricity made? Is it something you can run out of? Do animals use electricity?

The Queensland Museum has been working on organizing some of the best collections of Australian history in the country. Working on these collections since 1862 has allowed them to put together some pretty impressive ones.
Queensland has recently presented artifacts from Yongala shipwreck and more great exhibits are still to come. If you ever have get to Brisbane be sure to check this museum out.

The Moorabbin Museum is also popular. It is an aviation museum that has a collection of aircrafts that were made and designed in Australia. It also has displays of aircraft engines from 1910.

Art happens to be a huge part of the culture in Australia. The Heide Museum of Modern Art displays modern, comtemperary, landsape, and architectural works of art. There is also the Railway Museum which showcases the importance of the railroads in Australia’s history. This museum features images of railway history along with many other artifacts in Australia’s railroad past. When visiting Melbourne, the museums are a must see!

One of the larger centrally located museums is: The National Museum Of Australia, which is all about the history, government, and people, including both early settlers’ and Aboriginal cultures.

Another of the larger museums: The Canberra Museum and Galleries, displays the usual collections that one expects to see at museums, with the unique additions of several historic homes displayed on their original settings. Calthorpe House, a typical middle class Australian home built in 1927, Mugga-Mugga, a lowly sheepherder’s cottage, built in 1913, and the completely restored and furnished, Lanyon Homestead, constructed in the 1850s, where farm animals still graze.

The Museum Of Australian History: Located in Old Parliament House, where a walk through King’s Hall, tells the unusual democratic history of Australia.

The Dinosaur Museum and the Canberra Railway Museum: Each museum showcases what their titles indicate, dinosaur bones and prehistoric relics, or locomotives, freight, and passenger cars.

Many smaller galleries, displaying an array of collections, are open to public viewings. Though, not as large as the national museums, they offer entertaining and educational experiences.

The plan for the Sydney Opera House on Sydney Harbour building was created in 1955. There was an international architectural competition for tenders. Jørn Utzon won the competition with this design. Utzon loved sailing. This building would symbolize his love for sailing because the roofs are not only similar shells, but also on the sails of a tall ship.
It was opened in 1973 by Queen Elizabeth II, 14 years after the construction began. The building contains an opera hall, and three other concert halls, restaurants and bars.
The construction had some problems, but eventually was finished anyway.
Since the opening of the Sydney Opera House, this building became the symbol of Sydney such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It was also nominated in the election of the seven modern wonders of the world.

The outside

The roof consists of 1,056,000 small tiles in white and gray tones, which are specially imported from Sweden. These tiles are laid in a certain pattern. Under the tiles there are ​​ribs held together with cables embedded in a kind of concrete lids. With the openings of the shells the ribs without tiles or concrete, but with glass over it.
At the entrance is made of the monumental staircase and the forecourt. Here are free outdoor movies and musical performances.

The inside

The opera house has over 1000 different locations. These are the main venues:

• The Concert Hall has 2,679 locations. This is where all cultural activity, such as performances of classical music, opera, pop concerts and fashion shows. The concert hall is the largest organ in the world, The Grand Organ, with over 10,000 pipes.
• The Opera Theatre has 1,547 seats. This is the base theater and are often great operas and ballets performed.
• Studio with 364 pitches.
• Exhibition space where you can walk around, there are no fixed seats.
• The rehearsal room where the players’ re all can practice, is also a recording studio where a whole symphony orchestra fits.

The theater and opera houses have walls and ceiling painted in black, so attention is focused on the stage. The Opera House also has six bars and four restaurants.

The biggest way museums preserve our heritage is by protecting valuable symbols, artifacts, and memorabilia of our past. To get a better understanding of American history it is extremely valuable to see the documents and memorabilia that helped a country reach the point they are at today. Studying documents like the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Emancipation Proclamation help show what was life was like for the people who came before us and what they did to change the way life is today.

Just as important as saving the actual artifacts, museums help to show the culture of the groups that made up our heritage. Different groups have made major impacts on society today ranging from what we wear to what we eat. Museums capture the history of how these groups acted, the trials they went through, and help show how different groups of people impacted a country.

Museums help tell the story of what has happened. In those stories people can see how life has changed and how the culture we live in today was impacted by all of the groups of people that came before us.

Current exhibits at the Museum of World Culture include Earthlings, an interactive, family-friendly exhibit offering an objective look at what it means to live as humans on the planet Earth. Also featured is Destination X, a museum exhibit on world human travel and migration. The exhibit explores what causes human beings to migrate and travel through a mix of story, object, photograph and film. Kimono Fusion, a third exhibit, is a Japanese fashion using the kimono as a starting point and adding contemporary ideas and art.

The modernistic Museum of World Culture has a gently sloping roof with a beautiful four-story atrium overlooking woods and mountains. The Museum was designed by architectural couple Cécile Brisac and Edgar Gonzalez. A cafe, Tabla, offers a healthy selection of meals, snacks and beverages. Meeting and conference facilities are available. The programs available at the museum offer a wide variety of activities related to human culture, from theatre to music, plastic arts to discussions and conferences.

What happens during a bar mitzvah? Why does the groom at a wedding rise a glass and call the bystanders “mazal relative”? What does a circumcision and why Jews eat honey during the Jewish New Year? You can find answer to all of these questions in the oldest building of the Jewish Historical Museum, the bustling Great Synagogue . Here is an exhibition about Jewish religious life. Major themes are “the beauty of holiness”, represented in everyday objects like a decorated Torah crowns, Torah shield and torarol (the Torah is the holy book).

Sabbath Celebration
The everyday life is honored in beauty . During the celebration of the Sabbath family is at home celebrating beautiful life, including prayer rugs and chandeliers. The contents of the many Jewish festivals and rituals are portrayed in contemporary films and other materials.

On the run
The first floor contains an exhibition on the history of Jews until 1890. They fled in the seventeenth century from southern Europe to the Inquisition, from Eastern Europe for desolation, and gets in the Netherlands in the Golden Age of the freedom to practice their faith.

Holocaust
Over the first centuries is less known than the rest of the story (exhibited in another synagogue) of the twentieth century and especially the Second World War. In that respect also a look at the Hollandse Schouwburg where in 1942 and 1943 tens of thousands of Jews were deported. A very quiet place to be.

photo taken in Kingston Butter Factory Museum

On April 12, 1906, more than 50 dairy farmers from Chambers Flat, Logan Village, Cedar Creek, Tamborine, Pimpama, Coomera and Nerang met to form a co-operative butter factory. At the meeting in Beenleigh Shire Hall, the farmers had a spirited debate concerning the butter factory’s location. In general, everyone agreed on the importance of locating the factory near the railway line and near an adequate supply of water.

After taking a ballot, the committee decided to locate the factory in Kingston. About a year later, Waugh and Josephson built the Southern Queensland Co-operative Dairy Company on a parcel of what used to be James Trahey’s property, spending approximately 3,600 pounds. Within a few years, the co-operative had added several staff cottages, a manager’s residence and a railway siding.

The co-operative began to manufacture butter on May 13, 1907. Several months later, more than 350 shareholders and visitors attending the official opening. The original staff included a butter-maker and a cream tester along with two engineers, two carters and two labourers, and everyone earned approximately 36 pounds per week. However, by 1930 the staff had increased to over 30 employees who manufactured between 40 and 50 tons of butter per week.

The Kingston Butter Factory Community Arts Centre is located on Milky Way, Kingston, Queensland Australia