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Today is a "bonus" day in Wellington as we are hoping to sail at 10pm tonight but are still not sure. No one was in a rush to get off the ship so the breakfast venues were very crowded right up to 10am closing. The staff kept asking if someone could sit with us just to find a spot. After breakfast we headed out to grab the shuttle bus into town. It was pretty cool, very gray, but not quite raining. The P&O ship berthed behind us looked like it was getting ready to leave, the tugs were there, but by the time we got off they were still here. We had no idea where they were heading.

The shuttle left us on Brandon and we backtracked down to the waterfront walkway as we were headed to Te Papa, the New Zealand National Museum, which everyone said was wonderful. We walked along the Quay, past the Wellington City and Sea Museum, the TSB Bank Arena, The Boat Shed, and some art along the way and on the bridges over the roadway. By the time we got to Te Papa we were chilly, but still dry. The lady who greeted us suggested taking the elevator to the sixth level and working our way down, which we did. The views from the top deck were pretty spectacular even with the gray skies and we could even see the ship. Because this is the National Museum, there is a focus on the history (both artistic, natural and actually historic) of New Zealand.

As you can see from Rob's photos, you can look down through the center of the very modern building and see various exhibits from different levels. There are also lots of Discovery Places for children and lots of comfortable spots to have a coffee or rest your feet. There were many exhibits of Maori history, houses, art, weapons, etc as well as some focus on other Island societies. One interesting exhibit focused on an annual contest for wearable art, which was started by Dame Sally Moncrief in the mid to late-90s. There were films that showed the truly imaginative and outrageous "costumes" designed by both professionals and students. They also had a number of the costumes themselves on display. One was an all white knit tubular construction that a nurse had knit over a period of 2 years from wool sheared from her pet sheep. Another was made by a woodworker from Alaska and was a "dress" made of light wood panels that ended in a dinosaur style train with spikes, They also have a Bizarre Bra classification, and they are definitely bizarre. Unfortunately, they did not allow any photography in this exhibit or we would have taken lots so we could share them with you.

On the second level, they have a multi-faceted exhibit on earthquakes. There are 17 faults running through Wellington, a city of maybe 800,000, and 7 of them are major. They get an average of 300 earthquakes a year, so this is a major concern in all of New Zealand. The country sits between the Australian Plate and the Pacific Plate so is constantly being twisted and forced up and down. We from California are not as excited about some of the exhibits as others, like the small house you could enter to feel a simulation of a 7.5 quake. The kids were having the time of their lives – not just in this section but throughout the museum. They got to pound on Maori drums, use interactive exhibits and jump on a scale to see what level of quake they could generate.

They also have a fantastical Maori meeting house carved by a modern master carver which you will see in the photos.

After several hours, we headed to the exit to walk back to the shuttle to the ship. We got downstairs to find major winds and rain, so we got in a cab instead. The cabdriver's radio said that this was the major mega storm, so we were happy to get back aboard and grab a quick bite to eat. Daryl then did more laundry, Rob did web stuff and we will have a Bloody Mary then prepare for Italian dinners at Toscana and hopefully a 10pm departure.