Remembering

New Zealand’s National Museum is in Wellington. It is called Te Papa, which translates from the Maori as ‘Treasure Box’. It is quite a facility. To our amazement admission is free, which was a good thing because there was just too much to take in during one visit.

There is an exhibit of China’s Terracotta warriors currently happening, hence these dudes in the fore plaza:

A few of them were at the street market last night:

There are many wonderful exhibits in the museum, including a magnificent telling of the history of the Maori people, with truly wonderful carvings, totems and buildings. No pictures there though.

There was also an exhibit about the New Zealand experience at Gallipoli.

I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It was really shattering. The exhibit focussed on the story of a few New Zealand individuals to tell the story of the ANZAC forces at Gallipoli. It is an immersive and interactive exhibit, and even though story has often been told this drove home again the sheer bloody awfulness of the campaign and the courage of the men and women who lived and died there.

A few days after that visit we walked up to see the National War Memorial. The Art Deco carillon tower is visible from much of the city. The tower was completed in 1932, and the Hall of Memories finished in 1964. In 2015 he surrounding area was reworked and dedicated as the National War Memorial Park.

It is a lovely, solemn place.

In the new park in front of the monument memorials are being erected to mark relationships with New Zealand’s military partners. This is the United Kingdom Memorial, with a representation of intertwined oak and Pohutukawa trees.

There is also a Turkish monument, proving, I guess, that even after the horrors of a battle like Gallipoli there can be a way forward to healing and even friendship between former combatants.