Dec 032011
 

We have arrived in Burnie after two days of conference presentations. Back to Telstra Internet about which I am very thankful! Amazing how fast it seems after trying to use the satellite Internet aboard ship.

The sea was, perhaps not as smooth as it could have been, but the majority of people had no major issues apart from the presenters, who at times looked like they had imbibed the contents of the local distillery!


We did our Immigration stuff and it is funny to think that I went on a tour through 13 European countries a few years ago without a single stamp in my passport yet I now have a stamp from Burnie, a town of around 20, 000 people in Tasmania. 

Shauna Hicks gave a presentation on the Traps and Mistakes people can make when researching. Always worth hearing again no matter how experienced a researcher you may be!


Rosemary then gave a presentation on FindMyPast Australia with big news of many more records being added and the news that next year there will be a merging of the three currently separate FindMyPast offerings which will allow a single access point to your desired databases. Exact details are not available as yet but again this is something which I am very happy about as I use all three FindMyPast offerings an currently have to log in with different email addresses.

 
Then it was off the ship to go into Burnie. 

Mayor Steven Kons greeted us on the wharf and welcomed us to Burnie and very nicely posed for a picture with us. He looked very elegant in his formal robes.

 
Burnie has an excellent volunteer tour guide system who were very helpful in talking about local attractions.




I visited the shopping area as had to do some business then had an enjoyable time in the Pioneer Museum. 

 
Burnie is to be congratulated on the quality of this museum. It is laid out as a street from historical times with a general store, dentist, carpenter and more.

The dentist’s room did not look very inviting! The audio accompanying the room mentioned that initially there was no requirement for the dentist to be qualified and practically anybody could call themselves a dentist! It wasn’t until 1897 that a qualified dentist took up residence in Burnie to treat the teeth of the area.


There was a very nice looking medicine cabinet in the corner of homoeopathic medicines.

The Museum also contains a very nice area devoted to the military with displays and information from both World Wars. Burnie has a collection of Prisoner-of-War reminisces which were the result of a lifetimes work.

I saw this lovely headstone near the exit and wonder about the story behind it and why it was there at that point. was it a cleared headstone from a long ago cemetery? It is in a well preserved state.


A very nice Museum and a wonderful place to spend a few hours!

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