Jacky Price had a problem, a big one. He shouldn’t have stolen those stashed sealskins. At least, he should have never let himself be caught doing it. Alas, it was too late and now the enraged owners of the treasure made sure he had plenty of time and space to ponder his sins. And that […]...
The 10-year -old Maori boy was conspicuous by his rebellious attitude the moment he stepped off the bus. He was visiting the Tawhiti Museum, on the outskirts of Hawera in south Taranaki, along with eight classes of primary school students. Within seconds, he had scrunched up the worksheet that was to steer the students through […]...
What would have greeted you, stepping out of a waka 800 or so years ago? As familiar as we are with this land under our feet—its outlines and hues, sounds, aromas, the critters that share it with us—our familiarity is with a land that has undergone gross transformation in a relatively short space of time. Step […]...
In 1258 Hulegu Khan, great-grandson of Genghis, sacked Baghdad, bringing to a close the Golden Age of Islam. On another battle-front, in the climax of its 70-year border conflict, the Mongol Empire vanquished the remnants of the Sung dynasty, claiming dominion over formerly prosperous China. These events occurred a century before the Incas rose to […]...
What makes for an open, enquiring mind? How much is down to nature, how much to nurture? Were the technology available, would you choose genes for your children that enhanced their ability to consider and weigh up challenging alternatives? Or genes that made it more likely they adopted a fixed outlook of your choice? Sculptural […]...
In Early August 1838 the whaling brig Nimrod, out from Sydney, arrived in the Bay of Islands with 300 barrels of oil. Nimrod’s skipper was 24-year old William Butler, the runaway son of a Dorset clergyman....
Catching the train seemed the proper mode of travel for my first visit to Featherston’s Fell Locomotive Museum. The museum houses the only remaining Fell locomotive in the world. As the early-morning passenger train rumbled through the 8.8 km tunnel that pierces the heart of the Rimutaka Range, I realised that this very tunnel was […]...
In the summer of 1885 William Larnach, the newly appointed minister of mines, boarded a steamer in Dunedin and set out for Hokitika on the first stage of a gruelling inspection tour that would take in much of the South Island. By horse, by rail, on land and sea, Larnach and his party doggedly pressed […]...
Although numerous museums have disabused me of the notion that special collections have to be displayed in stodgy, poorly lit, indoor spaces, the idea of an open-air native plant museum like Otari–Wilton’s Bush, in Wellington, still intrigues me. But, when one considers that the root of the word “museum” comes from the Greek mouseios, meaning “of […]...
Nestled in the Heart of seaside Devonport, one of Auckland’s oldest suburbs, is a little museum that pays homage to New Zealand’s naval history....
