Hey everyone

Today we went to Te Papa!

Te Papa is New Zealand's biggest and arguably best museum, and was just a short walk from our hostel. It was also free to enter, aside from the temporary exhibitions, so there was no stopping us from making a day of it. With our lunch packed and camera at the ready, we set off for a big day.

We began our trip around the huge museum in Awesome Forces, where we learnt about the volcanoes and tectonic plate activity that has shaped New Zealand over millions of years, and how it will continue to shape New Zealand in the future. We went inside the Earthquake House, which was quite fun but didn't violently shake like Alex hoped it would. We then explored 'Mountains to Sea', and learnt about the plants and animals of New Zealand. Next was the Colossal Squid! This was a 4.2 metre long, half tonne squid preserved in liquid, and was a pretty gross sight. We watched a video about how it was randomly picked up by fishermen near Antartica before scientists quickly got their hands on it, first to do some tests on it and then to preserve it. It was then transported to Te Papa and proudly put on display. It was an unusual sight, we'll give it that.

Next was 'Our Space', which featured an absolutely huge interactive screen taking up a long wall. After figuring out how to use the 'wands' (think Wii-motes) we took photos and videos using the interactive touchscreens and had them up on the big screen in no time, taking up a huge section of the wall. From our photos you'll be able to see we clearly had far too much fun, blowing up photos of each other's faces to 8 feet tall.

Alex then went off to go to the Monet and the Impressionists exhibition - the largest collection of Impressionist paintings ever to come to New Zealand. Here he had a nice time looking at more than 50 paintings by artists including Monet, Renoir and Sisley, most of which had come over from Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. When he had read about the history of Impressionism and contemplated the meaning of every painting thoroughly (Christina had told him to make the most of the entry fee) he left the exhibition to go find Christina.

Whilst Alex was busy with the Impressionists, Christina learnt about New Zealand's bird life and the lack of mammals in the country before the Maori and later the European settlers arrived, bringing with them new species. She learnt about the breeding program of a native New Zealand parrot of which there were only 50 left - the program consisted of a parrot stuck on top of a remote control car and other very odd and hilarious contraptions to help the parrot breed.

She moved to another section and watched a little video about what it meant to be a kiwi and learnt about the myths and legends of the Maori people. She read the stories of the English travellers who settled here hundred years ago and the strong Scottish heritage of the New Zealanders (apparently).

When Alex came out of the Monet exhibition and when we finally found each other, we had a quick wander around a few more sections before deciding to call it a day, as we were feeling all museumed out. It had been an interesting and informative day. Xxx