Day 36: Butterflies Aren't Free...

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... but they only cost $10. This morning, I had a wonderful time at the Otago Museum. Frances had recommended the Tropical Forest, an area featuring live butterflies from Madagascar. But I remembered the cost of similar attractions such as Butterfly World in Canada, and I was feeling a bit hyper about money, so I visited nearly all the free galleries first.

The museum has a small but attractive collection of Greek, Roman and Etruscan artifacts, mostly pottery. It also has Chinese and European pottery, furniture, and a small clothing section. There are several natural history galleries, and for a wonder they have managed the stuffed specimens in such a way that I wasn't sickened by the formaldehyde.

I was happy to find a collection of model ships, but unfortunately they also have a collection of ship's bells in that gallery and children are encouraged to ring them. As soon as a child came in, I had to leave. The bells were so loud they actually hurt my ears (though I do have hyperacute hearing).

When I had visited everything else that interested me (there was no point, for instance, in my visiting the special exhibit on "Faces") I went to see how much the Tropical Forest would cost, expecting it to be at least $30. To my astonishment, admission was only $10, and, as I found once inside, that included not only admission to a small science museum but free kiosked use of the Internet.

The Tropical Forest was lovely. There weren't as many butterflies as there had been in the Canadian equivalent, but the ones that were there were beautiful. The habitat was well arranged, with a waterfall, and an effort had been made to add complementary species; there were small birds and geckos and turtles in the vivarium, as well as a pool of koi.

Signs warned that the temperature was nearly 30 degrees C. Patrons were urged to remove their jackets and to leave the area if they felt themselves becoming overheated. The high eighties F was exactly the temperature I'd been looking for, so I left my jacket on and stayed in the exhibit for quite a while just to enjoy the warmth and the wet air.

I left in good time to have lunch and still be ready for Elm Wildlife. Sadly, when the Twilight Tour guide arrived he, too, took one look at me and said, "But are you sure you can handle the hill?" "What hill?" I said. It turned out that the Twilight Tour, although suitable for less fit tourists in the sense that the walk was much shorter, still involved a very steep slope.

The guide promised they would give me a full refund, but I am terribly disappointed. Of course it is for the best; intellectually I do know that. I now won't have to jeopardize my shoulder on the gravel roads again; I won't have to risk my knee on the slopes. And if I couldn't have climbed the hill there was no point in my going.

I think it was a cultural mistake; the "less fit" tour mentioned "walking through fields," and where I live, even though I live in the mountains, fields are nearly all flat. Terraced crops are rare enough to be noteworthy. Slopes are used for harvesting timber.

But I *had* noticed when Frances took me to the albatross centre that there were sheep grazing on nearly vertical slopes, so perhaps I ought to have made the connection.

The pity of it is that if only I had made the correct assessment of the tour's difficulty I could have booked a Monarch Cruise directly. *That* I could have done, I think. A shortened Monarch cruise would have been a component of my original Jan. 3rd Elm trip.

I went upstairs and nearly burst into tears because I would, in all probability, never get to see a yellow-eyed penguin. Then I went back to the museum to see the butterflies again; I had a day pass and could get in again for free.

When I came out of the butterfly exhibit, I took a different path through the museum, and, sure enough, there was a stuffed yellow-eyed penguin, looking right at me. So I suppose I have been provided for. And, thanks to Frances, I have seen the albatrosses.
And I suppose that is the main thing.

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Comments

[Teresa]

Contact
Hi Meredith - I assume you haven't had my email, or haven't been able to reply - I hope this will reach you. I haven't been to Taupo for some time, so I'd quite enjoy going there - I see you're there at the weekend of 5-6 Feb. Does that suit you? And where will you be staying?

[bbaggins]

I saw your e-mail and thought I had answered it, but I don't see my answer in my sent-mail so it evidently didn't go through. Thanks for trying again. I'll write to you at once; if you still don't receive the e-mail please comment again.

[bbaggins]

Teresa, I thought I'd e-mailed you at the time; I have definitely e-mailed you now. In case you haven't received my mail, then, yes, 5-6 Feb. would be great.