Year 2 Excursion to The Hinterland Heritage Museum and local Mudgeeraba Town Centre

On Thursday 10 August, Year 2 headed off into the local community to visit the Hinterland Heritage Museum and complete a ‘Mystery Tour’ of the Mudgeeraba Town Centre. The excursion was part of our current Inquiry into ‘Where We Are In Place and Time’.

During the visit, students inquired into how ‘The Past is History’ with a focus on why significant people, buildings and events of the past in the local community have shaped our experiences and lives today.

Our first stop was the Hinterland Heritage Museum. Here community volunteers wore historical dress to transport us back in time to recreate ‘times gone by’. Students explored the inside of Franklin House from the 1950’s, Okey House from the 1930’s and The Nerang Railway Station with its rooms filled to replicate a Camera Room, School House Room, Station Master’s Room and Stockman’s Room. After this, children discovered how comfortable living in a simple Mud Slab Home was, including the toilet out the back. Also on display was a Blacksmith’s workshop, Wash Shed, General Store, Butcher, Wooden German Wagon and a Jailhouse (or ‘GAOL’ as Year 2 discovered was different spelling choice from the olden days).

To top off our Heritage Museum visit, a treat of damper with maple syrup helped the children to understand the importance of being self-sufficient (growing and making your own produce) as a trip to the local shops could take half a day of walking or riding along a bumpy track and by the time you returned the ‘ice-cream’ was long melted!

Next it was time to investigate our discoveries about history, with the Year 2 students descending on Mudgeeraba Town Centre for a mystery tour. As we sat for a picnic lunch in the park, a significant statue watched over the grassy common and young historians. Our riddle was, to solve the name of the dog clutching at the timber getter’s leg.

Travelling along historical Railway Street and its surrounding lanes, the children observed and explored monuments, plaques of significant people from local history and historical buildings to solve the clues. The answers were found at the old School Master’s Building, The Community Hall, The Old Post Office, the Windmill, the Railway Embankment, The Creamery, The Timber Getter Statue, Cuddihy Park and in the Grassy Common.

To end the day, it was back on the bus and we were transported back to the present time to share our wonderful adventures and newfound understandings about local history and ‘times gone by’.

Summed up by many of the Year 2 students, “This has been the best day ever! The past really is history and I never knew we had this much history so close to our school”.