Gympie Things to Do

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Continuing on our walk and another impressive building....

Photo 1........ Was built in 1888 for the Australian Joint Stock Bank, and was used as the Gympie stock exchange from 1893 to 1923.

Photo's 2&3 ......Are of what was once the Bank of New South Wales, built in 1890, and is now used as the Cooloola Shire Council Offices.

Photo 4....Has only recently been restored. It was the Queensland National bank, and was built in 1877. It still has its original brick fireplaces and chimneys.

Photo 5....I can't find out about it, but I love the old lace verandah's

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Gympie is full of interesting heritage buildings because of the gold rush days. I noticed that a lot of them were either being or had been restored, and were looked resplendent with their new coats of paint.

THE main street [Mary Street] has many of them, so join me for a walk, and I will tell you about some that I have taken photo's of.

Photo's 1&2 are of the Royal bank of Queensland which was established in 1892, and used as a Bank until 1979. It is now the headquarter's of The Gympie Country Music Muster.

Photo 3 is at 210 Mary Street, and is Victoria House, built in 1868.

Photo's 4&5 are at 216 /218 Mary street, and were built in the 1880's. These were interesting, as they had quite detailed ornamentation of that period.

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Like collecting dolls from all over the World?

When I was at the Gympie Goldmining Museum, one of the old homes had quite a big display of Dolls from many different countries. They ranged from small to very large. I thought the collection was quite good, and little girl's would surely love it!

LOCATION.....Gympie Gold & Mining Museum
OPEN DAILY.....9 - 4 pm daily
ADMISSION.....$10 Adults

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We stopped at Alford Park, then went around to the Gold mining museum which was located on the other side of the park.

The Museum is entered through the Cafe/Souvenir shop.
On paying our admission, we were given a brochure of the Village, so off we went following the said route. The Museum site covers 5 hectares containing over 30 display areas, and houses over 100years of history.

The first building housed memorabilia from the early gold mining era around Gympie. It was interesting to see the photo of the huge "Tent village" when gold fever was at its peak.

The site of the Museum is that of the former No2 South Great Eastern Mine. Inside, was an operational authentic steam engine, air compressor and generator reconstructed on the original footings, I think all the men would be interested in this area.

There was a gem display, history on The 5th Light Horse Regimental Military Museum which included Military equipment and memorabilia of families from Gympie that went to war, an original old Jail House from the Gympie area, Railway station, communication equipment, and more!

We spent about 1.5hours wandering around here.

ADMISSION IN 2010 is........$10 Adults

HOURS.....Open 7 days a week from 9 - 4pm daily

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This Cottage, consisting of four rooms with a front and side veranda, is also located in the Goldmining Museum grounds.
Andrew Fisher House is a typical miner’s cottage of the early goldfield era.
It was the birthplace in 1874 of Margaret Jane Irvine, who became Andrew Fisher's wife.
After their marriage on 31st January 1901, the Fisher's lived in the cottage until they needed to live in Melbourne.

Andrew Fisher was Australia's 1st Labour Prime Minister, and was three time's Prime Minister of Australia [1908-09, 1910-13 & 1914-15], and was the 1st Prime Minister to come from Queensland.
He is remembered for his famous declaration of Australia defending the British Empire to her 'last man and last shilling!"

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On entering Gympie on the Bruce Highway coming from Brisbane, you should stop at the Tourist Information Centre located on the R/H side of the road.
Plenty of good information, and FREE MAPS & BROCHURES, plus clean Free Toilets.

Next to the Info Centre is Lake Alford Park, a very pleasant area to stop perhaps for a Lunch break, or just a break from driving. It is lawned, has fountains in the lake, and plenty of different Bird life in the surrounding Tree's.

The park has BBQ's and picnic table & chairs, and a good children's playground.

Also at the entrance to the park, is the GOLDMINER'S MONUMENT, commemorating the gold miners who 'saved Queensland'.

Check out the school house room at the gold mining museum - for those of us fascinated by Australia's long-distance radio-schools, it's a real treat. There's even a sign up on the wall listing rules for teacher conduct during Gympie's earlier years. Some gems include:
"Female teachers are forbidden to marry or conduct any other such lewd activities." and "Male teachers may be dismissed for lewd activities such as drinking, smoking or having their hair cut in barber shops." !!

At the Gold Mining Museum, displays covering the gold rush days are mingled with exhibits such as the Lighthorse Museum, and Andrew Fisher House, to provide an outstanding range of cultural as well as historical exhibits.