Art & Culture
Time travelling Are you a history nut? Read on: here's our list of places to visit if going back in time is your thing.
Local history preserved The Bunbury Museum Heritage Centre is the perfect entry point to find out more about Bunbury and its rich history. In a way, it’s a microcosm of so much Australian history, all in one place. You’ll learn about the Indigenous people who lived in the region for thousands of years before white settlers, and the trials and tribulations they suffered at the hands of those who came to their land. The Noongar people are unusually well-represented in the museum: it’s the first of its kind to enable an Indigenous group to speak for themselves, 24
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FOUND | autumn • winter 2019
telling their stories and sharing their language. Take a trip back in time and discover more about the first European settlers and how they began farming the land in 1838. The development of Bunbury is linked to its proximity to the sea, and its port was mostly excavated by convicts who worked on draining swamps, building the timber jetty and constructing roads and bridges. There are wonderful archives of old photographs, collections of locally-donated artefacts and historic items of interest. Some objects are really redolent of a bygone age, like the film
projector from the Mayfair drive-in cinema. This huge projector, on its cast iron stand, reminds visitors of the days of “come as you are in the family car”, when dozens of cars lined up in front of a giant screen to enjoy the latest movies. The Bunbury Museum and Heritage Centre, 1 Arthur Street, Bunbury, Tues to
Sun, 10am to 4pm. Visit bunburymuseum.com.au Once upon a convict . . . Head to Australind and follow in the footsteps of one of the region’s most infamous convicts, John Boyle O’Reilly. There’s a wetland trail named in the Irishman’s honour. He escaped, along with another visitbunburygeographe.com.au
