On the thirteenth of November we went to the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney
They had a replica of the HMB Endeavour. On the Endeavour they had 28 sails which was 929 meters squared of canvas, we have about 75 meters squared on Meander. At the bow they had two seats of ease ( toilets) The crew had to use frayed rope to wipe their bottoms. When we went downstairs we saw the crews messdeck where they ate and slept. The ceilings were so low only Arthur didn't have to duck . Then we moved on to the officers mess where people like the surgeon and mate slept. After that we went up a set of stairs and got to the area where Sir Joseph Banks and his party slept and ate. The Endeavour was way bigger than Meander.
 |
| Daniel Solander's cabin |
 |
| A chart of New Holland ( Australia ) |
 |
| Members of the crew enjoying their hammocks |
 |
| on deck in Sydney harbor |
 |
| the grand cabin |
 |
| very low cealings |
We also went on a tall ship called the James Craig. Before she was called the James Craig she was called Clan Macleod and was a coaller that carried goods from New York to New Zealand. Goods included coal, wool, rice, timber, rice, wheat and kerosene. The James Craig felt so large and luxurious compared with the Endeavour.
 |
| The James Craig |
 |
| Bow |
 |
| us in the saloon |
 |
| James Craig 's deck |
We were lucky enough to be able to go on some decommissioned naval ships, one of which was a submarine. Inside the submarine it was so cramped and the ceiling was so low. The other ship was a destroyer called HMS Vampire. We got a tour around the ship where we got to see things like the bridge and the gun room. Our guide on HMS Vampire used to work on her when he was younger and told us about his life aboard. It was very interesting.
 |
| since when did Arthur become authorized ? |
 |
| first authorized now caption ?!? |
 |
| Engine room on the submarine |
Outside the maritime museum there is a huge wall called the welcome wall. If your family started out in Australia as refugees or immigrants they can put your last name on the wall. There were so many names, I reckon there were at least one thousand !
Inside the museum they had Blackmores First Lady which Kay Cottee sailed around the world on and was the first woman to do so. I was pretending to sail her 37 foot yacht . Kay's only companion on her solo round the world trip was Ted a giant teddy bear, he was about the same hight as me !!
 |
| Me steering Blackmores First Lady |
 |
| Ev cooking up a storm in the galley |
We saw a boat made out of beer cans. It participated in the beer can regatta in Darwin and won. It had its own bamboo mast and little sail.
There was an exhibition on Sir Ernest Shackleton who attempted to be the first person to cross the Antarctic. He failed dramatically having his ship crushed by ice and in the end eating his dogs.
Also there was a model of some convict ships. Life was so harsh back then, they chained them up and they didn't see the daylight untill they arrived in Sydney Cove .
We had a lovely time at the maritime museum even though it was raining cats and dogs.
By Katherine
