Pine Rivers Heritage Museum

There’s nothing dusty or musty about Pine Rivers Heritage Museum, housed in a slick little timber building on the edge of the Old Petrie Town car park. The curators have worked hard to create a largely interactive modern take on the area’s history and have done so with some panache.

Features include a theatrette for an audiovisual overview of the last 150 years of the shire and plenty of hands-on installations for both adults and children to gain insights into local history.

Children can sit at a turn of the century desk and write with a slate or match the strokes of a cane with the misdemeanour on the manners chart, use a typewriter or visit the measuring room to try out activities in speed, volume and weight then walk the timber walk (the area was once a centre for timber-felling) and identify all the timbers begotten from local trees.

Also worth checking out are the fascinating remnants of Camp Strathpine, dug up from the World War II stationing of fifteen thousand American troops in the area and the mock-up of an original two-roomed cottage in the area, replete with its furniture and crude accessories.

While the museum itself in no way warrants a day trip to the area, it is a great way to round off a day at the markets or a drop in if passing through on a leisurely drive.