Our day trip to the port - part 1

Christmas day we were looking at plans for the next week of sightseeing and showing my fiancee's family around, and Wednesday was looking like being very hot (39C), which we'd rather avoid if we could. With other days committed to other things, we decided that we'd have to use Boxing Day as a getting out and about day, so we looked up what was open and headed to Port Adelaide.

The plan for the day was to go to the South Australian Maritime Museum, see the lighthouse, and go on the dolphin cruise along the river.

I was surprised to find a small free parking area near the Clipper, City of Adelaide. Walked the short distance to the maritime museum and spent a good couple of hours wandering through the three levels of wonderful artefacts from our maritime history.

^{As with many places in Port Adelaide, an old building being repurposed again. The near side has 2 above ground levels and 1 basement}

For the $15 ($9 concession) entry fee, you also get entry to the nearby lighthouse ($1/$0.50 normally), and have all day to explore both sites. We spent about 2 hours in the museum but could easily have taken a bit more time in some areas of the museum, especially if you like to read all the information properly rather than just skimming most of it and skipping some of it too.

Currently their temporary display, which takes up about half of one of the 5 areas, is called 'Leviathan' and covers quite a bit of Australia's whaling history and whales in general. I found this area quite fascinating even though I've been to other whaling places before and it was well worth the time.

^{When you create a decent sized wall to separate off an area, you can have a nice big mural sign}

^{A small carving done in whale bone. There was many artefacts from surrounding areas depicting traditional uses of whale teeth and bones for ceremonial or decorative purposes}

^{An example of another decorative item}

^{In the middle of it all is a skull from a whale}

There were also examples of clothing using whale bone for corsets, and whale oil and harpooning equipment, and information on how we used to turn one of the largest animals to ever live on the planet into various items that were of use to humans of the time.

Beside the Whale display there is a permanent section displaying information about the Port River Pod, the dolphins that live in what is now a dolphin sanctuary in the river, including this magnificent skeleton taking up a whole corner of the room

^{Dolphin Skeleton}

In the basement area, there is a display of how South Australia was settled, and examples of the conditions people travelled here in. The very early days travel was exceptionally basic, with just enough space to lay down and a shared privy at the end of the room.

^{In the mid 1800s this was probably how you'd have travelled here. Not exactly luxury rooms}

^{By the time of the first world war, transportation had gotten much better, though it was still 6 people of the same gender to a room (when in third class)}

In the other half of the building, there is a custom built replica of an early sea vessel taking up the central area, with other displays surrounding it on both levels.

^{This boat was never intended to sail, but was built on site from scratch to replicate what the ship type would have been like}

Next time around, we got to the lighthouse and on our dolphin cruise.