THE National Museum of Australia is up and running at last with its big show, “Endeavour Voyage: The Untold Stories of Cook and the First Australians”, which, by contrasting the view from the ship and the view from the shore, takes visitors into the moment when First Australians encountered Lieutenant James Cook and his crew. Social distancing measures will be observed. Bookings of free, timed tickets are advised at nma.gov.au

CANBERRA Museum & Gallery and Lanyon Homestead have now reopened to the public, with social distancing and hygiene measures in place and the number of visitors restricted. Lanyon’s Barracks espresso bar and eating house will also reopen, but Calthorpes’ House and Mugga-Mugga Cottage will reopen on June 27 and July 4 respectively, while CMAG café will begin trading on June 29.

BUNDANON (not Bundanoon), the Arthur Boyd property on the Shoalhaven, has reopened to the public, with a maximum of 10 people admitted at a time to the homestead and Boyd’s studio. Other features open are Treelines Track, created by artist Janet Laurence, and the Haunted Point loop walk, which takes visitors through the rock amphitheatre and pockets of rainforest. Access will be timed bookings at bundanon.com.au

WITH the idealistic themes of “dream, perform, achieve, inspire”, Sydney Eisteddfod has now launched “Stage At Home”, created for the Sydney Eisteddfod during COVID-19 restrictions. They’ll be releasing featured videos of classical and contemporary singing, choirs, piano, instrumental solos and groups, speech, dance and drama performances at sydneyeisteddfod.com.au and all videos will be available permanently on YouTube once released. Video submissions from anyone can be sent in via a link on the website until July 27 and the eisteddfod will upload them until July 31.

AFTER a terrific response to their first online concert, Joshua Robson Productions and host James Cutler will return to the spotlight with a new production, “Lights Up On The Arts Not Done Yet” via Facebook on Friday, June 19 from 7pm, crossing live to the homes of performers like Natalie Abbott (“Muriel’s Wedding”), Jayme Lee Hanekom (“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”) and Caroline O’Connor (“Chicago”). This will be a ticketed event but you can pay what you can afford, at gofundme.com/LUOTA2