Overview and Top Things to Do At Wellington Museum

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Wellington Museum Things to Do

In a recent article published in The London Times, the Wellington Museum was named one of the top 50 most-voted museums in the world. As a result, it has become a popular destination for travelers coming from far and wide.

It is located on Queen Wharfs in Wellington, New Zealand, and occupies the historic Bond Store, which was once known for keeping the cargo loads that were brought into the Wellington port by nautical ships and sailors.

It is only a two-minute walk away from Lambton Quay, which occupies the geographic center of Wellington, and the route may be reached quickly and conveniently via cable car.

Everyone who wants to enter can do so at no charge; however, designated school and academic research tours or commercial operators are needed to make reservations in advance.

However, there may be fees associated with them. It is closed on Christmas day but otherwise is open from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. The vacation has the potential to be both fun and educational, and this is especially true if you are taking your kids to New Zealand.

The marine history of Wellington, which has been a part of New Zealand since the early 18th century, is the foundation upon which the museum was built and continues to do so to this day.

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Top Things to Do At Wellington Museum

The Bond Store

The very first steps you take inside the museum will take you back to an entirely different time period in the past. More specifically, you will be transported to the early 19th century, which is when the museum was originally built and served as a Bond Store.

A Bond Store is a warehouse that stores cargo goods that are transported via maritime seas.

Telling Tales

This section of the museum will walk you through Wellington’s history during its most prosperous years in the 1900s. During this time period, the city’s economy, culture, trade, and society all developed to their absolute maximum levels.

During this time, Wellington was widely considered to be the world’s most hip and happening small capital city.

Maritime History

It is commonly known that Wellington has a thriving nautical culture, which includes things like seas, cargo, sailors, ships, pirates, marine animals, and other maritime-related elements.

This section of the museum features a number of rusty, derelict ships that were once used to convey freight and is designed to give visitors an authentic and up-close experience of the past. You are welcome to take your time in the authentic captain’s quarters.

Wahine Theatre

This room features a dramatic reenactment of a tragic event that occurred at some point in Wellington’s maritime past, and it is rather moving.

An accomplished New Zealander filmmaker by the name of Gaylene Preston is in charge of directing the theatrical production.

Von Kohorn Room

The room’s previous incarnation was as the influential Wellington Harbour Board’s boardroom in days gone by. It is now majestic and sumptuous, reeking of the previous glory it once held and the fact that it was the location where one of the most remarkable and important decisions in regard to Wellington’s well-being and prosperity was made.

It was in this same chamber when the decision to keep the Wellington port harbor free of nuclear waste was made by an overwhelming majority.

Ngā Heke

The effective artistic environment of the museum boasts a loud, booming depiction and portrayal of the tribal and current life of the nativity via the workmanship and creative capacities of Maori painters and poets.

The show is especially significant for the inclusion of Te Whanganui a Tara, the most prized taonga.

The exhibition is an arts venue with a gallery-like atmosphere that is certain to leave you speculating, reflecting, and engaging in a spirited discussion with your fellow travelers about its creative process.

A Millennium Ago

Maori Stories from Way Back is a show that tells and retells the long-lost tales of Maori creation legends via the use of imaginative and effective theatrical illusions to create a quirky ambiance.

The Attic

The Attic transports you to another world, one in which you are expected to suspend your sense of rationality for a while, as well as one in which the language and interpretation of Wellington’s nautical history are rendered in an offbeat, theatrical manner.

Your trip to this museum will be unlike any other that you have experienced because of the presence of these fantastical features, which range from a lion to flying saucers and cover a wide variety of topics.

It heightens your simulation to anything new, foreign, and creative; thus, investigate, ask questions, participate in debates, and make the experience one that will be remembered.

Ngā Hau

It’s a movie set inside the museum that lets you learn about the history of Wellington by talking to characters who are telling their own stories. Perceptual Engineering and the Wellington Museum worked together to make Ng Hau.

The Frederick de Jersey Clere Room

This room of the museum is sometimes referred to as the “heart” of the museum because it was where the renowned architect Frederick de Jersey Clere thought of the entire museum.

The structure was originally used to store goods in its warehouse and was known as the Bond Story. A couple of centuries later, it was converted into what is now known as the Wellington Museum, which has done an excellent job of effectively preserving the rich legacy and history of Wellington.

The space is strategically located to give you a perfect view of the architectural details that Frederick was thinking of when he designed it.

It contains the original designs, which illustrate the architectural significance of the structure as well as the reasons why it is considered to be an important building in New Zealand.

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