Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
This natural-history museum, established just 40 years after the First Fleet dropped an-
chor, strives to shrug off its museum-that-should-be-in-a-museum feel. Hence dusty taxi-
dermy has been interspersed with video projections and a terrarium with live snakes,
while dinosaur skeletons cosy up to life-size re-creations.
There are also interesting displays on extinct megafauna (giant wombats - simultan-
eously cuddly and terrifying), and a sad 'where are they now' exhibit featuring stuffed re-
mains and video footage of recently extinct species.
Yet it's the most old-fashioned section that is arguably the most interesting - the large
collection of crystals and precious stones. The hall of skeletons has an intriguingly bizarre
tableau of a skeletal man riding a horse, and another sitting in a comfy chair next to his
underfed pets. Also worthwhile is the Indigenous Australians section, covering Aboriginal
history and spirituality, from Dreamtime stories to videos of the Freedom Rides of the
1960s.
HISTORIC BUILDINGS, GALLERY
NATIONAL ART SCHOOL
these sandstone buildings were Darlinghurst Gaol: writer Henry Lawson was incarcerated
here several times for debt (he called the place 'Starvinghurst'). If today's art students
think they've got it tough, they should spare a thought for the 732 prisoners who were
crammed in here, or the 76 who were hanged.
The circular central building was the chapel. A tiny former morgue near the Burton St
exit has creepy skull-and-crossbone carvings. There's also an excellent on-site gallery
showcasing students' work.
GREEN PARK
PARK
(cnr Victoria & Burton Sts; Kings Cross)
Once the residence of Alexander Green, hangman of
Darlinghurst Gaol, Green Park is a cheery space during the day, but as the many syringe-
disposal bins attest, it's best avoided nocturnally. At the top of the slope, the inverted pink
triangular prism backed by black pillars is the Gay & Lesbian Holocaust Memorial.
It was founded by the late Dr Kitty Fischer, who as a young Jewish girl in Auschwitz
was kept alive by food smuggled to her by a gay inmate forced to wear the pink triangle.
In a lower corner of the park is the Victor Chang Memorial - before he was murdered in
1991, he was a famed heart surgeon who worked at neighbouring St Vincent's Hospital.
