Queenscliffe Maritime Museum opens its doors

THE Queenscliffe Maritime Museum is welcoming back visitors for the first time in seven months.

As staff and volunteers gear up to welcome back the friends, family, tourists and school groups, who make up the thousands of people that visit the museum each year, there is some exciting new exhibits ready to be displayed. Some displays have been refurbished while artefacts have been taken out of storage, adding plenty to the museum’s much-anticipated return.

One of these new exhibits will be the Pilot Vessel Mavis III, which was craned onto the site in March this year. However, the major exhibit hit the museum two days after Australia’s first lockdown was announced, visitors will now finally get a chance to view it firsthand.

Visitors can also view artefacts from SS Time, including the lifebuoy and the Lifeboat Queenscliff which occurred in 1949, both core exhibits in the museum’s display.

The museum’s collection preserves over 160 years of maritime stories and artefacts from Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale while pieces from the Southern Port Phillip and the entrance to Port Phillip from Bass Strait have been added, which led to the name being changed to what it is today in 1998, to better reflect the expanding collection.

Over the years, a boatshed has also been built to house exhibits and provide workshop space.

Artefacts continue to be added, donated by individuals, families, collectors and companies.

For further information, visit www.maritimequeenscliffe.org.au