It’s around this time of year that a great debate swells into kiwi conversation and proximity to ice cream is weighed up against sunshine hours and sand preferences. While our personal connections to the takutai (coast) mean that there can never be a definitive list of Aotearoa’s best beaches, here is our version, compiled by Te Papa staff with images from Collections Online.  Read more

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Woodside and Excursions from Woodside - 1922, 1922, by Leslie Adkin. Gift of G. L. Adkin family estate, 1964. Te Papa (B.023323)

If you’ve visited us recently you’ll have noticed the beautiful ‘Kiwi’ Christmas tree at the entrance to the museum, decorated with jandals, kererū, and pōhutukawa. Here, history curator Katie Cooper explores the history of the Christmas tree in New Zealand.Read more

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The summer season is once again upon us, and for many people that means that it’s time to take a well-earned break. For most rural New Zealanders, however, summer is no time to rest, and at this time of year woolsheds all over the country hum with the bleating andRead more

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The summer season is once again upon us, and for many people that means that it’s time to take a well-earned break. For New Zealanders in the 19th and early 20th centuries, however, summer was no time to rest. History curator Katie Cooper examines the summertime activities of jam-making andRead more

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Flax jumping spider

Ever felt like you’re removing more spiders from your home in summer compared to the rest of the year? Our bug expert Phil Sirvid explains why spiders are so prevalent in summer, and what kinds commonly turn up in Wellingtonian’s homes.Read more

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Brian Brake Wanaka Motor Camp 1960

We are the Wellington Caravan Club / So we don’t have to stop in a pub, / We bring our vans from far and near, / And this is what you’ll hear, / When we go caravanning, caravanning, / With the Wellington Caravanning Club. These are the words of aRead more

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Flowers of Myosotis aff. australis "white" from the Chalk Range, Marlborough, South Island (WELT SP090551). Photo by Heidi Meudt, copyright Te Papa.

This year I went on several field trips to collect native forget-me-nots (genus Myosotis). With my research on native plantains now finished, my current research focus is now to figure out how many native species of forget-me-nots we have in New Zealand, revise their taxonomy, understand their evolutionary history, andRead more

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