Three weeks in New Zealand - 4/12 - 5/4/2024

Day 10-Museum of Zealand, Wellington- 4/20/2024

 The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is commonly referred to as Te Papa.  It is the national museum of New Zealand, located on the waterfront in Wellington. It’s one of the most visited and respected museums in the Southern Hemisphere, known for its innovative, interactive exhibitions and its strong focus on Māori culture, natural history, art, and New Zealand’s identity.

The building itself blends modern architecture with references to New Zealand’s natural landscape and cultural heritage.  It is Located on Cable Street, the museum faces Wellington Harbor, offering great views and easy access to the city.

The main entrance of the Museum.

Te Papa’s architectural leaders intentionally balanced a sense of grandeur with human scale. The entrance, while spacious and striking, is designed to feel friendly and accessible, avoiding that “threshold fear” that can deter first-time museum-goers

Te Taiao Nature exhibit is one of the most popular and thoughtfully designed permanent exhibitions at Te Papa Museum. It’s an immersive and interactive space that brings together science, Māori knowledge, and New Zealand’s unique biodiversity with the goal of deepening visitors’ relationship with the natural world.

We are now if the Te Taia Aotearoa (The living Workd of Aotearoa) with the evolution of New Zealand's Wildlife.

 He Tipua Humarie, the Gentle Giant

The kiwi is one of the most iconic and beloved symbols of New Zealand, both culturally and biologically. It's a bird that defies expectations and has captured the hearts of locals and visitors alike.

The kiwi is a flightless, nocturnal bird endemic to New Zealand. There are five species of kiwi, including the North Island brown kiwi, rowi, and great spotted kiwi (roroa). Though they’re birds, kiwis are more like mammals in many ways. They have tiny, useless wings hidden under shaggy feathers. Their sternum has no keel, which means no support for flight muscles. heir feathers are loose and soft, giving them a hair-like appearance, unlike most birds.  They have a long beak with nostrils at the tip: They smell their food (worms, insects, berries) rather than relying on sight. Excellent sense of smell and touch: These are rare traits in birds and make the kiwi unique.

The portion is dedicated to the dinosaur skeletons and ancient creatures are featured in an area that explores New Zealand's prehistoric past, including its unique evolution and the massive animals that once roamed these islands.

Bone of a Moa, an extinct flightless bird that could reach over 10ft. tall.

The Moa in New Zealand’s giant, flightless bird went extinct around 600 years ago, and its disappearance is directly linked to human arrival in Aotearoa.

The first Polynesian settlers, ancestors of today’s Māori, arrived in New Zealand around the 13th century, and they hunted the Moa for their meat.  Moa were slow-moving, large, and flightless, making them easy to hunt. Within just two to three centuries, moa populations were wiped out.

Exhibit about birds in New Zealand.

This area is dedicated to New Zealand's native birds and they are a major highlight of the exhibition.

This exhibit reveals how New Zealand sits atop two massive tectonic plates, the Pacific Plate and the Australian Plate, and how their collision shapes the very land beneath your feet.

We are now entering the Te Kohanga (Nest) dedicated to showcasing the science and care behind bird conservation in Aotearoa New Zealand.

It is really interesting to see the name of the bird and their status.  Some are recovering, some are extinct, and some are doing fine.

Cheers to great dining experience.

Treasured eels are big, meaty, and tasty.  The Maori people used to trapped the eels with cleverly woven hinaki (one way in, no way out).

Seabird on display

Seagulls habitat

One of the highlights is the Colossal Squid, the only complete specimen of its kind on display in the world.

In 2007 Fishermen in New Zealand caught the biggest-ever specimen of a colossal squid, one of the most mysterious creatures on Earth. The 450kg giant has an eye the size of a dinner plate.

 No one's ever seen one alive apart from as it dies at the surface of the water.

NEXT... Gallipoli : The Scale of our War