Return to the South Island

After lunch yesterday, I visited the National War Memorial, then the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. The latter had a traveling exhibit of the Terracotta Warriors from China along with many bronze, Jade, and ceramic pieces. Incredible.

The exhibit about the England-Maori treaty was interesting, and in the Maori section I found part of the Crown's apology letter outlining all the ways they broke the treaty. Efforts to return much of the stolen lands are still ongoing. Cool.

Perhaps you remember the racehorse Pharlap? His skeleton is in the museum. His hide is in Australia, Melbourne I believe.

Absolutely amazing was the section about Gallipoli, the extremely violent battle to thwart the Ottoman forces who were working with Germany during World War I. The literally larger than life figures were so detailed they looked real, down to the flies in the corned beef to the sweat running down a brow to the hairs on an arm. In the picture with the soldier raising his pistol you can see my flipflop on the floor. The figures are about 2.5 times larger than normal scale. Breathtaking.

After the museum it was back to the hotel to pack and rest in preparation for today's ferry to the South Island. I'll catch the Stray bus again once we disembark in Picton, which we're just about to do.

So long [for now] and thanks for all the fish. ✌️Read more