Wellington – Te Papa Museum
Today we hoped off the ship onto a taxi van to take us to the Te Papa Museum in downtown Wellington, the Capital of New Zealand. Wellington is surprisingly scenic and full of institutions integral to the day-to-day running of the nation. Wellington is the third largest city in the country and takes part in rivalry with larger Auckland, a friendly rivalry that perhaps stems from the common misconception that Auckland is actually New Zealand’s capital. Wellington is a major travel crossroads between the North and South Islands.
Back to the Museum. This museum is free to the public and a beautiful, new 6-story building. The first floor brought us directly into the beginning of time and the Tuatara Lizard’s history. Here’s some information we discovered about Tuatara.
Many things happen slowly in Tuatara’s life. One breath can last an hour. It’s eggs take four years to develop, and a year or more to hatch. It can survive for months without eating. But when it needs to eat, the Tuatara can move fast – to catch grubs, small animals, and even seabirds living in the same burrow. It’s teeth are wedge-shaped, and don’t have roots, but grow directly out of the jaw bone. Tuatara once lived all over New Zealand, but now can only be found on a few offshore islands. They live for maybe 100 years, maybe 200, but nobody’s studied them to find out
Now we know what Tuatara looks like – we can really start searching!
Our ship leaves today at 5:30 p.m., so a leisurely walk around the waterfront brought us back to the shuttle stop and back to our ship.
Elvis arrived last night – I’ll tell you about that in another BLOG.
Six BMK Travelers
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