A past exhibition celebrating early trailblazers such as Captain Cook, Burke and Wills, Emily Creaghe and Bennelong; modern pioneers such as Mawson and Kingsford Smith; and contemporary record-breakers like Dick Smith, Tim Jarvis, Andy Thomas and Jessica Watson. Featuring over 360 objects, Australia’s most incredible journeys brought to life. Whether they crossed oceans, tackled jungles, traversed mountains, braved the poles or went to space, our nation’s greatest explorers helped forge the intrepid Australian spirit.
Read their stories
Richard 'Dick' Smith AC The first person to fly a helicopter solo around the world. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
Sir Douglas Mawson OBE One of Australia’s greatest Antarctic explorers. Trailblazer exhibitionAntarctic explorer Discover more
Joseph Banks Just how did naturalist and explorer Sir Joseph Banks come to be known as the Father of Australia? Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
Matthew Flinders An outstanding sailor, surveyor, navigator and scientist. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
Ron and Valerie Taylor Pioneers of skindiving, underwater photography and cinematography. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
Charles Sturt Driven by the dream of an inland sea. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
Ludwig Leichhardt An extraordinary participant in the great Australian Age of Exploration. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
Emily Creaghe Sometimes referred to as Australia’s first female outback explorer. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
Woollarawarre Bennelong The first Aboriginal man to visit Europe and return. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
Jessica Watson OAM The youngest person to sail solo and unassisted around the world. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
Andrew Lock OAM First Australian to climb all 14 "eight-thousanders". Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
Alan Warild Set multiple records while exploring the world’s deepest caves. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
Andy Thomas AO Australia’s first member of NASA’s elite astronaut corps. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
Abel Janszoon Tasman The first European to discover Tasmania and confirm Australia as an island continent. Trailblazer exhibition Discover more
Ron Allum Legend of the deep. Trailblazer exhibition Discover more
Sir Charles Kingsford Smith Pioneered routes that include the first trans-Australian, trans-Tasman and trans-Pacific flights. Trailblazer exhibitionAviator Discover more
Greg Mortimer OAM The first Australian to reach the summits of Mount Everest and K2 in the Himalaya, and mounts Vinson and Minto in Antarctica. Trailblazer explorer Discover more
William Bligh Navigated a tiny vessel a distance of 5800 kilometres, charting part of the north-east coast of Australia along the way. Trailblazer exhibitionNavigator Discover more
William 'Bill' Bradfield AM An amateur astronomer who discovered 18 new comets. Trailblazer explorer Discover more
Frank Hurley OBE Photographed Antarctica, the jungles of New Guinea and European battlefields. Trailblazer exhibitionPhotographic explorer Discover more
Linda Beilharz OAM The first Australian woman to ski both the North and South poles. Trailblazer exhibitionPolar explorer Discover more
Tim Jarvis AM Re-enacted the Antarctic journeys of Douglas Mawson and Ernest Shackleton. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
James 'Cas' Castrission and Justin 'Jonesy' Jones The first to walk unsupported to the South Pole and back. Trailblazer exhibitionPolar explorers Discover more
Ryan Campbell In 2013, became the youngest person to fly solo around the world. Trailblazer exhibitionAviator Discover more
Robert O’Hara Burke and William Wills The first to successfully cross the continent from South to North. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorers Discover more
Lady Jane Franklin Adventurer and early agitator for women's rights. Trailblazer exhibitionAdventurer Discover more
James Cook One of the greatest navigators, explorers and cartographers of the Age of Enlightenment. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
Tim Cope Covered 10,000 kilometres to become the first person in modern times to follow Genghis Khan’s march from Mongolia to Hungary. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
Gabrielle ‘Gaby’ Kennard OAM First Australian woman to circumnavigate the world by airplane. Trailblazer exhibitionSolo aviator Discover more
Bungaree Born among the heathland, beaches and rainforest pockets of Broken Bay on the New South Wales Central Coast. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
Kay Cottee AO First woman to sail solo, unassisted and nonstop around the world. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
Jesse Martin OAM In 1999, Jesse became the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe solo, non-stop, and unassisted. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
John McDouall Stuart The first known European explorer to have successfully crossed the Australian continent from south to north and back again. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
Thomas Mitchell Major Thomas Mitchell was one of Australia’s most eminent early surveyors and explorers. Trailblazer exhibitionSurveyor and explorer Discover more
William Sheridan Wall A reluctant traveller. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
Tim Flannery Explorer, scientist, communicator and former Australian of the Year. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
George Ernest ‘Chinese’ Morrison George Ernest ‘Chinese’ Morrison’s an extraordinary adventurer. Trailblazer exhibitionAdventurer Discover more
Jon Muir OAM The first Australian to have trekked to both poles and climbed Mount Everest. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
Andrew Harper OAM First person to walk west to east across Australia with camels. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
Gregory Blaxland, William Charles Wentworth, William Lawson Gregory Blaxland, William Charles Wentworth, William Lawson. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorers Discover more
Robyn Davidson Robyn Davidson, the ‘Camel Lady’. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
Sir Hubert Wilkins Polar explore who was on the first flight in Antarctica and first submarine under polar ice cap. Trailblazer exhibitionPolar explorer Discover more
Paul Edmund de Strzelecki First European to discover and climb Mt Kosciuszko. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
Sydney ‘Syd’ Kirkby Syd is credited with surveying more of Antarctica using traditional means than anyone in history. Trailblazer exhibitionExplorer Discover more
Nancy Bird Walton AO Pioneering aviator who helped set up Royal Flying Doctor Service and trained women pilots during WW2. Trailblazer exhibitionAviator Discover more
Lawrence Hargrave Engineer, explorer, astronomer, inventor, aeronautical pioneer. Lawrence HargraveExplorer Discover more
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