Today we walked to the Museum of New Zealand. The many exhibits found throughout the five extensive levels provided another point of view into the country which I hadn’t seen before. The exhibit which stood out to me the most and that I learned the most from was the war exhibit because I didn’t know any background of wars New Zealand was involved in. The exhibit was mainly focused on the World Wars, where New Zealand allied their Australian neighbors. I learned that New Zealand forces were assembled quickly along with other countries to fight. At the beginning, New Zealand was fighting a “white mans war”. This meant that Māori people were not allowed to fight in the New Zealand army. This outlook changed however through pleading from Māori and through the sheer need for bodies. I also learned how the camps along the trenches during siege warfare functioned. Apart from the war exhibit, the Māori artwork, canoes, and dwellings told origin stories and were beautiful pieces to look at. After the museum, I took the bus to the zoo. My favorite part of the zoo was seeing the kiwi birds and learning how they function. I learned that they forage for insects and are surprisingly very quick. They kept trying to run away when we would get close for a picture. The zoo showed how New Zealand is home to a diverse and mainly endangered population of species.
