Today we took the scenic route to Wellington where we will be catching the ferry to the South Island tomorrow. Whereas distances in New Zealand may not be great, it can take a while to travel if the roads are windy and hilly as they were today. We took a pass where on the ridges of the hills there were many, many windmills; always an impressive sight. They are huge from up close! After lunch in a park we got to Wellington around 3pm and went to the Museum of New Zealand, or Te Papa Museum as recommended by Graham and Lisa. In particular they recommended the exhibition about Gallipoli (Turkey) where in WW1 many New Zealanders and Australians lost their lives in a military campaign against the Ottoman Empire that lasted about eight months. Don has always been fascinated by Gallipoli. The exhibition, which include huge, 2.4 times human size and very well done, statues/ models of a number of soldiers, a doctor and one nurse and told their stories, plus had a lot of other very interesting and impressive history and displays about Gallipoli. We also took a look at the natural section of the museum which included a (small) earthquake house which shook and moved like in an earthquake plus there were some good exhibits/ displays about the eruption of the Taupo volcano about 26,500 years ago. The caldera of this supervolcano is now Lake Taupo. After the museum we strolled around the waterfront of Wellington for a while before heading for our campground for the night which was right in Wellington.
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