Maritime Museum Transforms into a Winter Wonderland for School Holidays

These winter school holidays, the Australian National Maritime Museum will be transformed into a choose-your-own-adventure winter wonderland of Antarctic proportions!

While it might be too cold to dive into the ocean, the Maritime Museum will bring the ocean to families of all shapes and sizes with an exciting – and dry – winter school holiday program including the Antarctica Experience virtual reality, LEGO® icebreakers, an Imaginarium choose-your-own-adventure trail, 3D cinema, underwater drone challenge, Saltwater Sunday NAIDOC celebration, and so much more.

Guests are also invited to explore one of the largest, most diverse museum fleets in the world and climb aboard the Museum’s cold war submarine, navy war ship, or any number of beautifully restored historic boats, as well as visiting the immersive hi-tech Action Stations Navy exhibition.

The Museum is also running special Sensory-Friendly Sundays with a modified program for those with sensory needs, suiting a range of differing abilities.

Also showing is the stunning internationally-acclaimed Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition that examines the beauty of, and humanity’s impact on, the natural world.

Dive in to the Maritime Museum’s winter school holidays program!

Special giveaway offer for your readers: 5 x family passes (worth $79 each) for a social media / promotional giveaway.

EVERYDAY PROGRAMMING

Included in the Big Ticket

Family $79

Adult $32

Child (4-15) and concession $20

Child under 4 FREE.

The Antarctica Experience virtual reality

Few are fortunate enough to travel to Antarctica. Even fewer experience what it is like to live there. That’s all about to change.

Explore Antarctica as you’ve never seen it before in this immersive virtual reality experience. With 360-degree camera control and stunning 4K, high-resolution vision, experience a day in the life of Antarctic scientists as they research this mysterious continent. You’ll see first-hand the work that goes into understanding climate change, managing ecosystems, researching sustainability, and conserving wildlife.

Suitable for children 13+, or younger at parent’s discretion.

5 July – 13 October, 10:30am, 11:30am, 12:30pm, 2:30pm, 3:30pm.

Adults $20, Concessions $20, Members $15, or included in Big Ticket.

Imaginarium Trail: Choose Your Own Adventure

Four fun-filled creative activities and experiences across the Museum.

All spaces are open 10.30am – 4.30pm daily.

1. Diatom Disco Sensory & Creative Play

Chill out in the plankton Disco sensory zone, sketch stories and songs of the sea in our audio drawing cave – and all sensory friendly!

2. Maker’s Space: Kids on Deck

Create spectacular handmade creations to keep at Kids on Deck, our maker space. Sculpt your own explorer’s vessel, craft a sea creature mobile, experiment with watercolour painting or get your hands wet with watery, bubbly and slimy science experiments.

3. Lego Icebreaker – Bricks, Blocks n Boats.

Build to your heart’s content in our construction zone – fashion the ship of your dreams from giant blue blocks or Lego bricks.

Be inspired by the Nuyina LEGO® model to create a spectacular collaborative Antarctic landscape. The model is 3.2 metres long, uses 117,612 LEGO® bricks and took a team of three people 328 hours to build led by certified LEGO®professional Ryan McNaught aka ‘The Brickman’ and is full of cool Easter eggs to spot like Star Wars characters, a yeti, animals, aliens and funny situations with the crew!

4. Make a Museum

Use creature specimens and curious objects to make your own mini museum.

Explore our Vessels – including a Submarine and War Ship

Climb aboard!

9:30am – 5pm daily.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition

Wildlife Photographer of the Year is the most prestigious photography event of its kind, providing a global platform showcasing the natural world’s most astonishing and challenging sights for over 50 years. This world-renowned exhibition, on loan from the Natural History Museum in London, features 100 extraordinary images celebrating the diversity of the natural world, from intimate animal portraits to astonishing wild landscapes.

9:30am – 5pm daily.

3D Cinema

Our curated program of ocean and nature-inspired movies from internationally-respected filmmakers complement current museum exhibitions. Covering everything from great white sharks, mysterious marine creatures, submersible journeys to the deepest point of the sea and experiencing the flight of soaring migratory birds, these films delight and entertain. Escape the everyday and see the world through a new lens!

For individual film screening times, please check with our friendly front of house staff.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Prices as listed

Underwater Drone Challenge

Explore below the surface of the harbour with our cutting-edge underwater drones.

11am – 3pm, Saturdays and Sundays in June, 50 min sessions.

For 1-4 players.

$50, $40 Members.

Saltwater Sunday – NAIDOC Week Celebration

Celebrate NAIDOC Week 2019 at the museum with a range of cultural activities for all ages on Saltwater Sunday, July 7. Enjoy lively performances of storytelling, bush tucker tastings, art making activities and face painting.

All ages.

Entry to the day is free with any paid admission, no bookings required.

Creative Workshops

Cockatoo Island Escapade – 1 Day Photography Workshop

Wednesday 10 July, Wednesday 17 July, 10am – 4:30pm.

Underwater Explorers – 2 Day TV Presenting Workshop

Wednesday17 – Thursday 18 July, 10am – 4:30pm.

8 – 14 years.

Child $95, Members $85.

Sensory-Friendly Sundays

On Sensory-Friendly Sundays, our Kids Activity Space and selected exhibitions will be open extra early for a quieter experience and modified to suit people on the autism spectrum and with a range of differing abilities.

Our trained staff and volunteers will be on hand to answer any questions you have and facilitate creative activities.

8:30am – 4pm.

Child / adult $12, Members FREE.

Bookings essential.

/Public Release.