A man before his time

                                                                   

12/6/16

A larger version of this page was
the only advertising we saw,
 out front of the venue

Why did we come to Tennant Creek you might ask. While in Longreach we heard there was a Da Vinci Machines Exhibition in Tennant Creek, extended to the end of June so we thought we'd stop in and have a look. No advertising in town, no signs to the Civic Centre where it's supposed to be held. 

Searched Google and found the address. When we finally found it, we weren't sure if anything was open (it was Sunday morning) and the small sign out front advertised the event, a door was open, one car (the volunteers) and we expected lots more. 

When we mentioned the lack of advertising the volunteer said 'we left brochures in the caravan parks' 

I asked if they got many visitors through and he said 'Yes, at least 25 a day!' 

We paid our $10 each and spent the next hour and half reading and watching videos and examining models of so many machines da Vinci designed. What an amazing man! So prolific and forward thinking, not to mention his talent to paint. Of course the obligatory replica of The Last Supper, Mona Lisa and lesser known paintings but the machines were the stars. I didn't realise he invented or designed so many things we actually use today or were the forerunner to those things.

The display has been bought out here from Florence, built using the drawings and notes in da Vinci's books. Only a quarter of his Codices have been found.

Above is a model of da Vinci's flying machine, very much like a Paraglider

To the right is da Vinci's drawing of the mechanism to hold a person so they could drive one of his flying machines.

 Did you know that da Vinci invented the life saving ring? He also had drawings for underwater breathing, much like the old Diver Dan breathing apparatus.

                                 


   
      Da Vinci's portable bridge to the right


      A bike made from drawings da Vinci's apprentice made of what is believed to have been of a bike da Vinci had built.

Ball bearings

                    These are just a handful of the items on display

We did find a recreational lake outside Tennant creek, a lovely park area used by quite a few people but it's so cold and windy, not very pleasant outside.