andrewlighten.com

Yesterday was Australia day – 26th January – which is the day those of us living down under celebrate the arrival of the first ships from England and the subsequent plundering and destruction of our country.

We took the opportunity to head into Melbourne and visit the museum. The kids had a ball because it’s such an interactive place.

They particularly liked the sandpit where they could use paintbrushes to play amateur archaeologists and uncover fossilised dinosaur bones.

I still haven’t got my D80 back, but Lisa got lots of excellent shots with her camera – there’s a set up on flickr.

The photography policy at the museum is excellent – it’s your camera, and your museum, so go crazy. The one and only place there was a “no photography please” sign was the Koori artwork gallery and that’s out of respect for indigenous Australians’ belief that by taking a picture you’re taking something away from the soul of a person.

Given how open the rest of the museum is it’s not hard to live with one small restriction.