Sophia Adshead (centre) with her cousin, Kylie and Dad, Darrell Adshead in the Te Papa foyer.
At Te Papa we were greeted by a member of the Education Team who gave me a small present in the form of some books and games. One of these is a newly published book about spiders (NOT my favourite creatures!) that my father thought was pretty cool.
Then we went into the Te Taiou (Nature) exhibit and spent time admiring the seabirds and other creatures that are found off our shores. I got to see an albatross, though sadly it was not alive. I would say this was my favourite exhibit because it’s really interesting to see how we can take better care of the environment, and seeing the impact we can have – for better or for worse.
We looked through the ANZAC exhibit with its huge mannequins demonstrating the horrors of what the soldiers had to go through. It is really interesting to see what people had to go through in the eyes of a soldier. I was surprised by the amount of bodies that got buried in no man’s land, and how stressful it must have been to bury the bodies while trying not to get shot in the head.
We also went to the Pasifika exhibit which was full of interesting information about the Polynesians and other cultures.
Wellington has a lot more to offer than the area around Whitianga because it is obviously much larger, so there is more space for shopping malls, enrichment places and facilities for a larger number of people.
We also visited Zealandia, an area of bush that is held within a predator-proof fence. The walking tracks were good, and it was lovely to be in the bush and to see and hear so many birds. We got to see kaka, a takahe, whiteheads and several robins. We even saw a tuatara!
We visited several parks in the area with my cousins – the best was a huge skatepark with a double flying fox where we spent a lot of time. There is definitely a lot to do for young people but it is not as peaceful as Coromandel.
It’s always nice to go away for a little bit, but it’s always just as nice to return home.
Note
Sophia was the winner of a Coromandel wide essay competition earlier this year.
The essay competition was organised by Ann Ward of Southern Birds Trust in conjunction with The Coromandel Informer who published the articles on the sea birds and awarded the prize. Sophia’s essay on The Albatross won first prize which was a trip to Wellington to Te Papa in Wellington. Sophia is 13 years old, a student at Te Rerenga School. Well done, Sophia!
