Te Papa (Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa)

The guided tour was a must it gave us so much more information than what we expected. The museum is magnificent with so many interactive stations and the war section was very emotional and moving.

The guide was very knowledgeable and presented the tour in a lively fashion with inside tips I wouldn’t have known , if I was self-guided. But I wish we had more time. I especially liked the art exhibition and the insightful animal explanations.

Larger then life models of real soldiers, medics and nurses with accompanying text of their story. The guide was VERY knowledgeable about the history of the battle too.

Excellent guide . Beautiful displays to develop an appreciation of Maori history , expertise and culture

I couldn’t recommend to do the early bird enough, it is an incredible exhibition and a wonder to view silently before the public.

The whole museum was so interesting and so very well presented. Our guide was very knowledgeable and showed us all the highlights and gave us very insightful background information. Well worth paying for. After our tour we toured the rest of the museum at our leisure. The Gallipoli display was very well presented and meant alot to us being Australian.

The oversized models were stunning and attention to detain just awesome. Hard to believe I have taken so long to view

Many cultures have a welcoming ceremony that is intended to establish interactions between visitors and hosts in the most effective manner. Based on the experience we had at the Te Papa museum in Wellington, we could not envision a better welcoming ceremony than to take a tour with Bruce Roberts, a Kiwi who shares his insight, passion, depth of understanding, and welcoming spirit infused with the central Louisiana accent from his early roots. Mr Roberts can, in the span of a few minutes discuss the anatomy and physiology of the colossal squid while pointing out its unique characteristics, the reproductive cycle of the kiwi bird, the migration of Pacific based peoples over the centuries, and the emotional impact of encounters with Maori elders in sacred places. He reveals the significance of Word War I battles to the identify of the people of Oceania on the international stage, the economic shifts in the relatively recent industrial history of New Zealand, the impact of the railway on the North Island, the linkages among Pacific Islander languages with other languages, and the special vulnerabilities of the people and wildlife in this unique environment. Spend an hour with Bruce Roberts in the Te Papa and you will discover or rediscover millennia of birth and life cycles from land formations to giant now extinct birds to carving, engineering, water transport, and music. You will leave with a sense of respect and appreciation for the land to which you are being welcomed, discovering new facts, new facets or what may already have been familiar, and maybe even learning a bit more about your self as your sense of discovery gets exercised to a rare degree.

My tour guide Susan was fantastic and because I was the only one booked for a tour I got a one-on-one experience. Susan was very knowledgeable and gave me a lot of background I would never have known walking around the museum on my own. The museum itself is absolutely beautiful and really well laid out and much larger than I expected. I wish I'd had more time to look around after the tour. I highly recommend this tour particularly for those who are interested in the lesser known historical facts behind the displays.