Rosie came to stay Part One

For the first week of the school holidays, my little sister Rosie came to stay with us.

Here's some photos of what we got up to:

Te Papa:   The Scale of Our War exhibition**. 

A moving tribute to the Kiwis who fought in WWI for our freedom and current rights. If it weren't for their sacrifices we wouldn't be the Kiwi's we are today.
Our family (of Rosie and I) actually didn't go and fight in WWI or WWII, as they had a farm, a large family and they could grow crops. This was beneficial to the local area and helped with the war effort from home. 

Dan said his great grandfather may have fought at some stage, but not sure which war. He had written a journal which was later donated to a local museum - filled with stories, but Dan said he's never read it so he doesn't know what it said... His grandfather may have also fought (WWII or after) but he's not sure when or where. 

The graphic stories, and some cold, hard facts about the war make it an emotional place to visit.

Lieutenant Spencer ????

 [I missed his surname, if anyone can fill the puzzle, that'd be great. I can edit it in.]

Lieutenant Colonel Percival Fenwick, worked as a medical doctor.

Here he covered a dead body.

There's only so much one can do for the wounded and dying when you're not in a hospital. 

Nurse Lottie Le Gallais, the emotional scene is set with the return of letters she had sent to her brother who was fighting elsewhere. Family back home in NZ had received news of his death months earlier, but as Lottie was working on board the Maheno (a hospital ship) she didn't receive the news until the returned letters came back to her. They're stamped with: "Killed. Return to Sender."

Morse code: 

Messages sent between places were always coded, in WWI Morse code was common. 

Replica of the Medal Badge given to those in the Wellington Infantry Battalion

Lieutenant Colonel William Malone, a prominent figure from Wellington.

I love the language choice here of using 'sanguine'.

sanguine

ˈsaŋɡwɪn/

adjective

1. 1.

   optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation.

Maori battalion tells it like it is.

At the final figure, you're invited to add your own poppy, so a lot of people have been through! The day we went was during week one of the school holidays and the wait time to enter was around 25 minutes. So yeah, a lot of people around! 

Was nice to see so many young folks also walking around and having a lesson in history. 

**Entry to the exhibition is FREE.
Te Papa exhibition website.