attraction

The picture (same angle, same people, but cropped slightly) was published in "Randwick, a Social History" (Randwick Council 1985) and captioned: "The Bondi Aquarium at Tamarama opened in 1887. It is pictured here in about 1891, after rebuilding following a fire" It is attributed to Australian Consolidated Press Ltd.

Bondi Aquarium 1889: At Bondi I find hundreds having a look round like myself. It is situate on the sea coast, andl is built on the edge or borders of a pretty little bay, remarkable for its picturesque and natural beauties. This spot was recently secured by a syndicate, and made still more attractive by artificial means. The tram runs close to the gates. You are charged one shilling admission, for which you are shown the sights. There is an aquarium, well furnished and after the style of a continental aquaria. Opening out of the aquarium there is a handsome fernery, refreshment rooms, magnificent promenade verandah; in the centre of the aquarium is a fresh water fountain, the -basin of which contains goldfish. Above the aquarium is the Grand Hall, capable of holding 1500 visitors, with an elegant stage, retiring rooms and galleries. Then there are the skating rinks, one covered in, the others not covered-made up of a sort of fine asphalt-overlooking the Pacific Ocean. This rink is said to be the finest in Australasia; photograph galleries, shark pond, merry-go-round,. terraced lawns with bandstands, camera obscura, and summer houses. These, and other parts of the vast, established are like the Crystal Palace, London, lit up with the electric light. Bondi cost the promoters something like £40,000, and the capital admits of a further £10,000 expenditure. I spent the afternoon here, and am indebted to Mr Bartlett, the manager, for my stray notes. STRAY NOTES FROM SYDNEY. (1889, June 29). Williamstown Chronicle (Vic. : 1856 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved from nla.gov.au/nla.news-article68592574

Thanks for posting. I used the image (and cited the museum) for a natural history quiz where participants had to guess the age of different species.

Chillagoe is an impressive combination of a relic copper mine, historic town, limestone caves, and Aboriginal rock paintings. It is located to the west of the Atherton Tableland and, although once a thriving mining town, is now little more than the ruins of its industrial past combined with some small mining operations. Still, it is genuinely fascinating, isolated, and exotic. Chillagoe is located 1,846 km northwest of Brisbane, 144 km west of Mareeba, 205 km west of Cairns, and 352 meters above sea level. Chillagoe-Mungana National Park The limestone in the area is the product of an unusual uplift of sediments (including coral) that were deposited in the ocean off the edge of the Australian continent about 400 million years ago. The sea level rose, the continental shelf moved east, and then, about 360 million years ago the sediments were compressed and uplifted. Source: www.aussietowns.com.au/town/chillagoe-qld

Although containing a wide variety of sedimentary rock types and basalt, the Chillagoe Formation is typified by limestone. In general the limestone is lime mud, variably recrystallised to marble. Locally it is fossiliferous with corals and stromatoporoids as well as megalodont bivalves, which are commonly in growth position. These and conodonts indicate that the formation is Silurian – Early Devonian (Telychian – Emsian). The Chillagoe area is noted for its spectacular landscape of jagged limestone towers and its extensive cave systems, many of which are protected within the Chillagoe-Mungana Caves National Park. The Royal Arch Cave is located about 5 km southwest of Chillagoe while the Donna, Pompeii, Bauhinia and Trezkinn caves are located 1.8 kilometres from the centre of town. Royal Arch, Donna and Trezkinn caves can be visited by guided tour only. Time will not permit us to visit these, but a short visit will be made to Balancing Rock. From the car park, 2.8 km from Chillagoe, a rough track climbs up the rock formation to view the spectacular limestone tower karst and the surrounding landscape of open woodland. Balancing Rock is an isolated limestone pillar, and in addition, the limestone shows many other features characteristic of karst, such as fluting (rillenkarren) and joints accentuated by solution (grikes). The Wallumba Aboriginal art site near Balancing Rock has viewing access provided by a boardwalk. Source: "North Queensland: 1700 million years of Earth history on the Proterozoic-Phanerozoic Margin of Eastern Australia", by Ian Withnell & Bob Henders, 2012 researchonline.jcu.edu.au/24850/2/24850_Withnall_and_Hend...