- Author
- Editorial Staff
- Subjects
- History - general
- Tags
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- RAN Ships
- None noted.
- Publication
- March 2019 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
The September 2018 edition of this magazine reported on the closure of the Sydney Maritime Model Museum and the disposal of its considerable content of maritime artifacts. It is therefore a pleasant surprise to report on another very different maritime museum at Chinderah Bay on the far north coast of New South Wales.
Chinderah Bay is on the banks of the Tweed River just south of Tweed Heads. In making for the Queensland border it is easy to drive past Chinderah Bay and its small museum does not have much to recommend it in street presentation. From the outside it resembles a rather rundown shed full of lengths of rusty chain and old rope, the odd anchor and other bits of flotsam and jetsam. But look further and the proud owner, Ray Evans, has put together a lifetime’s work in collecting and restoring maritime memorabilia of unusual character ranging from all types and sizes of cordage, to model ships, ships in bottles, chronometers, sextants and numerous brass and chrome ship fittings. Much of the material comes from northeast coast dive wrecks.
Some objects are partially hidden behind many years of dust and cobwebs but this does not detract from the interest of this collection, rather it adds a touch of authenticity. There are even some artefacts attributed to the great Captain Bligh when on his Pacific voyages.
While these wonders can keep the maritime enthusiast enthralled for a couple of hours, continue your journey into a back room. Here is possibly one of the most complete collections of artefacts from Papua New Guinea purchased from a collection brought back to Australia following independence in 1975. These alone are worthy of a visit.
The Chinderah Museum of the Seas is a delight in its simplicity, but to bring the collection alive, talk to Ray or his able assistant Christian, who have a wonderful array of stories on how and where the material originated and was acquired. While Ray buys and sells, his main business is the hire of material to interior designers and for television film sets. Truckloads of artefacts leave here as props used in design and various well known productions.
The Museum is to be found at the corner of Waugh Street and Chinderah Bay Drive, Chinderah, NSW 2487.
Phone 02 6674 0099 or 0429 444 616. Open daily from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm but closed Wednesday and Thursday.
