And rightly so. Loads of things to push, pull, press and climb in the natural history section, all about NZ's flora, fauna, and geology, including a shaking house to simulate a force 5 aftershock (they are very hot on their earthquakes, if you'll excuse the pun - at Whanganui there were signs up pointing to the nearest tsunami safe zones). Then outdoors into Bush City, a recreation of NZ's landscapes with a waterfall, swamp, volcanic rock, greywacke wall, swing bridge (more fun jogging mummy), sandpit to dig for fossils, and a cave with moa bones, stalagmites and stalactites and - best of all - fake glow worms that dimmed when you made a noise - we were there for quite a while. So great to have an outdoors exhibition at a museum - only possible in a warm climate.
After lunch it was the special exhibition: Bug Lab, produced in partnership with Weta, the special effects people behind Lord of the Rings (which is its own tourist thing here - tours of various film locations are advertised everywhere). It was spectacular - four walk-in pods enclosing a camouflaged orchid mantis waiting to pounce; a moving, whirling dragonfly, frog and fish eye-tricking show (we couldn't work it out at all); Japanese honeybees fighting off an enormous evil-looking hornet; and a gruesome scene of a jewel wasp "zombie-fying" a cockroach by injecting venom in his brain so she could seal him up alive with her egg, so he provided a food source for her young when it hatched. And these were interspersed with little hands-on tables, something to touch or pull or play with, focussing on venom or hive minds or the amazing properties of a dragonfly's wing. Brilliant.
Next up, Storytime: an extra 45 minute session for the under 5s. Through the doors, it looked like a small green curtained room, with a friendly lady reading The Hungry Caterpillar. But then she asked the kids to choose a bug costume, pulled back the green curtains, and a kids' wonderland was revealed: a tree slide, a pretend garden, a river with lily pads; and best of all for Jemima, a craft table with glue for sticking! She's been missing that. After making the longest caterpillar in the world, our time was up, and we were back out into the normal museum.
And finally, the Maori floor - for me at least. Kevin took Jemima up to the art gallery for some more playing, while I got my history fix in peace, poring over the various copies of the Treaty of Waitangi from 1840, which was the beginning of the UK's - was it "sovereignty" or "government" (guess which translation had which) - with the marks of over 500 Maori chiefs. Then, Te Papa properly done, we walked back to the motorhome, and drove the short distance to the ferry port. Farewell to North Island.
The ferry was easy - three and a half hours, a better than expected dinner, a children's play room, and a spectacular view, first of Wellington Harbour, then a short patch of open sea, and finally a long passage through the green, unpopulated, and beautiful Marlborough Sounds - islands and crenellated inlets of the mainland, a wonderful introduction to the beauties of South Island. We boarded with a lot of other campers, and also, slightly (hypocritically) distressingly, some lorries packed with sheep who looked out at us through slits in the lorry sides - I am a confirmed meat eater, but we all felt sorry for them. Then a short drive through the dusk, just able to see the difference in the landscape - the road surrounded by jutting hills, so green, completely tree covered, and very few houses. No rolling farmland here. And then the first few vines - this is Marlborough wine country after all. Very tired after a long and busy day, we found our campsite and pitch, and collapsed into bed. We'd see where we were in the light tomorrow.
Te Papa - Bush City:
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