Bundaberg Historical Museum (posted Thurs. 2nd March)

There's a bicycle - one of several - in the Bundaberg Historical Museum, which was bought by a local family (the Hansen family) in 1917 for #12 10 s and was still in use by members of the family until 1990. Another bicycle there was used in the 1977 film, the Mango Tree, which was filmed in and around Bundaberg. In the vicinity of the small bicycle collection is a newscutting from 1970 relating the story of 'the Bicycle Bandits of Bundaberg' . In 1915 two bicycle-mounted bandits grabbed the payroll of the Fairymead Sugar Company, pursued by a carful of constabulary. They were apprehended on the Burnett Bridge, throwing their bounty - contained in two sugar bags - into the river. It sank to the bottom, but was later retrieved intact. The headlines of the time called this the 'most audacious highway robbery under arms in Queensland'.

The museum is a motley and eclectic collection of artefacts, shells, fragments of stone, gem collections, stuffed birds, tools, household items, workwear, agricultural implements, school books and even typewriters and telephones. The Lonely Planet promised quilting, but - disappointingly - there was none on display this time (I like quilting). Of the birds, the curator remarked that 'we've managed to make half of them extinct over the last 100 years' - this may have something to do with people stuffing them and putting them in glass cases I think. It curtails the breeding you know!

Two interesting facts about Bundaberg - gleaned from the museum:

• The Burnett River (on which Bundaberg sits and in whose murky tidal waters I had my first open water diving experience in yesterday) is home to the rare lungfish - which in terms of evolution represents the link between frogs and fish. The first one was found there in the 1870s, having long been considered extinct. The only other places in the world where they are found are the Amazon and the Congo. In 2000 there was one in a tank in the Bundaberg Zoo (where is the Bundaberg Zoo I wonder?).
• The sugar cane industry in Bundaberg was sustained in its infancy by the 'recruitment' of South Sea Islanders, known locally as Kunakas. Between 1863 and 1904 around 60,000 of these were brought to Queensland, usually kidnapped or lured aboard ship under false pretenses then abducted. After this 'blackbirding ' was banned, most of them were deported, unless they had married here, or acquired freehold land, or had been here for over 20 years.

The staff in the museum were really friendly too. It's one of 3 museums in the Botanic Gardens.