We toured the Christchurch Museum, where we were encouraged to "go for it" as far as taking pictures is concerned. There were children climbing all over many of the displays and, I have to say, I kind of liked that. The 'hands off' direction that is typically given in U.S. museums was absent, yet nothing was getting broken.
The moa skeleton is a baby moa, next to an adult-moa leg bone. The moa are extinct as a result of human predation. The other skeleton is of an elephant seal. Many, many seals reside in offshore NZ waters.
The intricately carved wood is from the fronts of canoes. No kidding.
A number of preserved Maori items were crafted from jade. I am SO coming home with loads of greenstone trinkets (greenstone is what it's called here).
The buggy labeled 'Christchurch Hokitika' sums up the part of our journey that begins today: Tranzalpine Train to Hokitika.
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