As part of the campervan return that Jonathan and I did from Christchurch to Auckland, we took the ferry from the south island to the north island.
The ferry lands in Wellington. Wellington is the capital of New Zealand. It is also the 2nd largest city in the country. It is most well known for being windy.
We were there on a lucky day with hardly any wind. While we were there, we thought we’d stop off at Te Papa museum. It’s the national museum of New Zealand, and mainly focused around nature and science.
One thing you should probably know about Jonathan and I is that we’re terrible museum visitors. We take for.ever.
If you’ve ever been to a museum with us, I’m sorry. If you haven’t, I don’t recommend it unless you too like to read every piece of information that could possibly be gleaned in a day.
I’m serious. We spent nearly a whole day wandering around the museum. 5 hours. And, we didn’t even get to the top two floors.
Te Papa museum is home to the world’s only colossal squid on display. It’s crazy how big this thing is.
Another crazy thing is that no one has ever seen a male colossal squid. Never.
If you were to make calamari from this big girl here, the rings would be the size of tractor tires.
The colossal squid also has a beak. And, its “suckers” on its tentacles rotate 360 around. So, if you’re ever snared by one, don’t struggle. It’ll make it worse.
Oh, and add to that that the suckers have sharp “teeth” on them. If you’re ever unfortunate enough to encounter a very hungry colossal squid, I feel sorry for you.
Like I said, we looked at everything. And, we took a long time. Too long in fact.
Did you know that if you stay too long at Te Papa museum, that when you leave, they’ll give you a small piece of paper.
Unfortunately, you are required to buy this small paper. It costs $60. And, it’s usually found on the windshield of your car.
That’s right, we got a parking ticket. The museum offers temporary free parking on Saturdays. But, we over-stayed.
So, while admission was free, and parking was free, we still had to pay $60. We’re just looking at it as admission to all of New Zealand’s museums.
We’d better go see a few more then.
Kia ora Carrie and Jonathan
I am the manager of Te Papa’s car park and was concerned about seeing that you recieved a $60 parking fee.
From your description of the fine I believe you parked at the car park adjacent to Te Papa which requires you to display a ticket in your window for parking. This car park is not managed by Te Papa and parking fees are monitored by a commercial company.
Due to its close location to Te Papa we often receive complaints in regard to it.
Te Papa does not ticket any vechicles for over staying. If vechicles do overstay we always talk to the person first and in most cases waive fees as we do not wish anyones visit to Te Papa end on a negative note.
If you are still in Wellington and wish to visit Te Papa again please email me and I will arrange free parking for the day at Te Papa’s car park.
I hope the rest of your travels go well.
Thanks Duncan