PIONEERS MUSEUM,GULGONG
Few towns preserve the atmosphere of gold-rush and bushranger days better than 1870s Gulgong,which has some 150 listed buildings. The Pioneers Museum started in an old bakery but expanded to cover two entire blocks,in which you can see recreated interiors such as a schoolroom,doctor's surgery,cottages and an inn. The magnificent jumble of random memorabilia from across 150 years would give Marie Kondo palpitations. The highlight is a superb Cobb&Co transport carriage,but your kids might be most amazed at the outsized Victorian-era vacuum cleaners – or the 1970s telephones and computers. Seemgnsw.org.au
AUSTRALIAN FOSSIL&MINERAL MUSEUM,BATHURST
Museums don't have to be big to be fascinating. This museum inside a colonial-era schoolhouse is barely more than a couple of large rooms and yet packs in a surprising amount under its looming Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton. The mineral section is a gorgeous shimmer of crystals and explains the everyday uses of obscure minerals such as zeolite and sphalerite. The fossils,some 250 million years old,are magnificent and include dragonflies,crabs,dinosaur eggs and the skull of a sabre-tooth cat. Pull open drawers to see displays of astonishing calcified insects. Seemuseumsbathurst.com.au
REGIONAL MUSEUM,ORANGE
There's a lot to like just about this building,which has huge glass facades and a sloping grassy roof with town views,and incorporates a theatre,art gallery,library and civic centre that expands assumptions of what a museum should be. High-quality,changing exhibitions of contemporary art are balanced by others that explore the theme of connection with country and the importance of rural Australia's agriculture,mines and environment. It's a refreshing change from the often-international outlook of other regional galleries. School holidays see plenty of activities for kids of varying ages. Seeorange.nsw.gov.au
MCFEETERS MOTOR MUSEUM,FORBES