The Bounty Folk Museum

Norfolk Island has a number of great museums as it has a very rich history, maritime and otherwise.

Of course one of the most famous aspects of its history is the fact that the Bounty Mutineer descendants made their home on Norfolk island after transferring from Pitcairn Island. There also had been a Polynesian Settlement before Captain Cook arrived and two Penal Colonies prior to arrival of Bounty Mutineer descendants.

The Bounty Folk Museum is situated at Middlegate, on the way to the UNESCO World Heritage site at Kingston and Arthur’s Vale if you are heading there from Burnt Pine, the main shopping centre on the Island.

On http://www.norfolkisland.com.au The Bounty Folk Museum is described as ‘A treasure chest of history, an Aladdin’s cave full of fantastic collections, excellent learning resources and inspiring information …’.

We visit The Bounty Folk Museum every time we go to Norfolk Island and each time, we allow 2-3 hours time to explore. It is much bigger than it looks from the outside.

Rather than me try to explain what you will find there, have a look at the images below. It is absolutely fascinating! The following images do not show all the rooms there.

This museum is very much on the ‘must do’ list when you are visiting Norfolk Island!

Till next time!

Written and Photographed by David Johnson

14 April 2022

Maze Of Knowledge

Last Sunday,, I had the pleasure of visiting (for only the second time, surprisingly) the Argyle Emporium in Goulburn, NSW. The Argyle Emporium sells used books, records and an assortment of eclectic things.

As the bookshop is located in Goulburn, only 15 mins away from where my Wife’s parents live (where we have obviously visited numerous times over the years), its a wonder that we haven’t been there more often.

On one hand, though, maybe I can understand that after being there for a bit less than an hour yesterday and buying 9 books. It is truly an amazing place!

Set in a old Police Station, and being a building of largish construction (for Goulburn), it has a number of rooms, so many in fact that is like a maze. All the rooms are positively brimming with books on just about every subject you can imagine. A recent review highlights the fact it houses 500,000 books. A Bibliophile’s dream!

It is not only for a lover of collecting books though, it is an extremely deep well of knowledge and resource, a place I will be visiting more often now.

The owner, Tony advised me that his Father, Stephen had started the bookshop 21 years ago.

It is open 10am – 4pm 7 days a week and is located opposite the Railway Station in Sloane Street, Goulburn.

The Argyle Emporium is such a delightful place to spend time browsing for treasure. So, what of the treasure I uncovered yesterday? That will be the subject of another post…

Written by David Johnson 8 September 2020