The Australian Armour & Artillery Museum

The Australian Armour & Artillery Museum offers a substantial look at military vehicles, artillery and related history in Cairns. The privately owned museum opened to the public in 2014 and is dedicated to collecting, preserving, restoring and displaying equipment dating from the 1800s to the present. Its collection includes more than 240 armoured vehicles and artillery pieces, with material from both world wars and a particular focus on the Second World War. The museum describes its display as the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, and notes that many pieces are not found elsewhere in Australia.

The exhibits are the main reason to visit, with the scale and variety of the collection providing plenty to examine rather than a short, single-theme display. Visitors can explore vehicles and artillery representing different countries and periods, making it a useful stop for anyone interested in military history, engineering, restoration or the physical detail of historic machinery. The museum also lists armoured vehicle rides, events and guided Saturday tours among its offerings, although the details of those activities vary.

For a more hands-on experience, the downstairs Shooting Gallery allows eligible visitors to use military-related bolt-action rifles under the supervision of qualified safety officers. The gallery has tethered weaponry, automatic safety doors and staff with military and police firearms-instruction backgrounds. Participants must be over 12, meet the stated requirements under Queensland weapons regulations, be sober and tall enough to adopt a safe standing position at the 1.32-metre shooting bench. Rifles listed by the museum include the WWII British .303, German Mauser, Italian Carcano, Russian Mosin-Nagant and other military or related firearms. The final shoot is at 3pm, and the gallery closes during AusArmourfest.

With general admission, family tickets, child tickets and annual passes available, the museum can suit families, school-age visitors, enthusiasts and groups looking for a longer, more focused outing. The collection also gives solo visitors plenty to take in at their own pace, while the shooting gallery adds an optional activity for eligible participants. Located at 2 Skyrail Drive in Smithfield, the museum is a short Cairns-area destination for visitors who want something more specialised than a conventional local history display.