Print this page Inside the Maritime Collection Tour

Explore more than 160,000 objects that are not on public display in this exclusive up-close tour of the National Maritime Collection.

Enjoy guided access to the Museum’s storage facilities at Wharf 7, adjacent to the Museum, and discover fascinating maritime treasures rarely seen by the public.

Wearing white cotton gloves, you’ll have the unique opportunity to handle a four-hundred-year-old legendary silver "piece of eight", along with historic coins and salvaged artefacts from the 1600s to 1800s age of sail.

New to the tour: explore scores of remarkable ship and boat models representing naval history, commerce, sport and exploration, from the early days of sail through to the 2000s. See shipbuilders' half-block models used to determine hull design, and models of the schooner America, Investigator, Beagle, Cutty Sark, HMAS Sydney I, SMS Emden and the container ship Tampa, famous for its role in the 2001 refugee rescue.

You'll also discover an extraordinary 1800s model made from mutton bones by prisoners of war during the Napoleonic Wars, delicate hand embroidery depicting Captain Cook's famous voyages attributed to his wife Elizabeth, 1800s scrimshaw, salvaged artefacts from the Batavia, Endeavour and Dunbar, and a selection of coastal Indigenous objects.

With more than 100 historic objects spanning a remarkable range of maritime stories, this is a rare opportunity to get closer to the National Maritime Collection and discover treasures that most visitors never see.

DELIVERY MODE

• Face-to-Face

TOUR DETAILS

Meeting Place: Wharf 7 Heritage Centre, Australian National Maritime Museum Pyrmont, NSW

• Please meet your tour guide at the Wharf 7 Maritime Heritage Centre reception at 10.15 am for the tour introduction, safety briefing, and orientation.
• The tour will finish with a visit inside the Museum’s Conservation Laboratory to see first-hand some of the current work in progress.

Unfortunately, the tour cannot accommodate mobility aids or wheelchairs. Participants will be on their feet over most of this time.

Please wear flat enclosed shoes, and note that all bags and backpacks, together with food and drinks (including water bottles) must be left with our security staff at Wharf 7 or checked in at Front-of-House in the main Museum building before commencing the tour.