New Zealand, 9-10-2017--Picton (South Island) to Wellington (North Island)

Heading down Marlborough Sound, we pass a ferry almost identical to the one we're on. 

Leaving Marlborough Sound, we head out into Cook Strait and leave the South Island behind.

Interestingly, leaving the South Island, we travel southeast to get to Wellington on the North Island.  

The ferry took us to Wellington at the south end of the North Island.  Wellington is the capital of NZ and its second largest city.  Normally, we'd have left the city ASAP, but back in Picton, one of the ferry workers had so highly recommended the Gallipoli exhibit at Te Papa, the national museum of NZ located in Wellington, that we decided to brave the city.  We were not disappointed.

The Gallipoli campaign was a disastrous attempt in WWI to wrest the Gallipoli Peninsula from Turkish forces in 1915-16.  It was also NZ's first engagement in the war.  Much of the fighting involved close range trench warfare and the losses on both sides were horrific. We found the exhibit to be remarkably even-handed, neither glorifying nor disparaging NZ's involvement in the campaign.    

Eight different figures, each about 8-10 feet tall were meticulously created for the exhibit by Richard Taylor's Weta Workshop, which has created set pieces and special effects for many movies, including Lord of the Rings.  The realistic detail of the figures is astounding.   

Down to the most minute detail, it's as if people had been turned into giants.  

The realism of the figures and the often sickening photos and stories had some exhibit goers leaving in tears.  

The diaries of each of the 8 figures is followed in the exhibit.  Lieutenant Colonel Percival Fenwick pictured above, told in his diary of the despair he felt:

"Total to date: 5,000 casualties, about three men per yard of ground gained."

Private Jack (John) Dunn was sick with pneumonia when he fell asleep at his post, an executable offence.  He was sentenced to death, but before the execution it was overturned based on his prior gallantry.  He died in combat less than a week later.

The dirt and hair on the knee of Private Dunn are some of the countless details that bring his figure to life.  

Flies, sweat and grime are all part of the figures.

Every aspect of the figures was depicted, some in gory detail. 

Despite the enormous sacrifice of lives, the campaign was ultimately futile.  After almost a year of fighting, allied forces withdrew from Gallipoli. 

In addition to the Gallipoli exhibit was an impressive natural history wing where we found this display. 

Having seen so much of the South Island converted from forest to pasture on the South Island, this display caught our attention.  On the left is a map showing forest cover (in green) when the first people arrived in NZ in the late 13th century.  The second map shows how much forest cover had been removed by the time of the first European settlement in the 18th century.  The third map is of forest cover today.   

One of the cast iron cannons that was jettisoned from Captain Cook's ship Endeavor when it struck the Great Barrier Reef in 1770 and began taking on water.  Almost 50 tons of cargo were thrown overboard in an effort to save the ship.  This cannon was found and recovered in 1969.