So THAT's Te Papa!

Today's major plan was to visit Te Papa, New Zealand's national museum. After a quick haircut from the multi-talented Candice, we were ready to roll. It's a pity that we didn't read up on the museum before the visit to know more fully what we were in for, and the significance of the various features. We (and the photos) hardly did the museum justice, getting to only two of the five or six floors which took us a few hours with lunch in between. All I can say is that it's quite overwhelming and wonderful and we'll definitely do it again. We arrived near the end of a choral performance which was beautiful; we listened in amazement as they changed seamlessly from one song to another. The colossal squid exhibition was all the more interesting for watching a short video clip on the capture, examination and preservation of this enormous creature; the earthquake house was frighteningly realistic as was the full-size hollow whale heart. All this and more, with no entry charge! In the evening it was time for our actual purpose in coming to Wellington: Nick's preaching invitation (part one). He took a theology class (bible study) and we got to meet a large chunk of the congregation. The church, Gracenet Community Church, doesn't have their own building like so many of the reformed baptist churches here, so they meet in a community center where many hands make light work of the bi-weekly set-up. Nick was well received and enjoyed delivering his study from Acts.