Taranaki Naturally
Go back in time in the Taranaki Naturally Gallery and discover the beginnings of the region.
Hear the rumble of a mountain ready to blow its top and see Mount Taranaki explode in a display of red hot lava and create the very ground on which you are standing.
All around you geological time is rushing past as the land drifts away from the massive Gondwana continent more than 60 million years ago, begins its development as two isolated islands, turns into a tropical paradise and evolves into the unique natural environment we see today.
Wander through a glass ‘forest’ to find out which of the region's plants and animals - including weta, giant snails, and beech forests - are survivors from Gondwana.
An interactive display means you have time at your fingertips, able to move forward and back at will and discover when some of our most iconic animals made their home here.
Wonder at the size of the world’s largest flightless bird - the extinct moa and see fossils more than 100 million years old.
Discover why Taranaki spent so many of its early years under the sea, and why the province is so rich in oil and other hydrocarbons. Meet the giant crabs, enormous birds and fearsome sawsharks who lived in and around the salty waters and come face to face with the most fearsome of them all – the giant Carcharodon megalodon shark that used to cruise our waters looking for prey!
Catch up with time and discover the wide variety of plants and animals now found in the region, including native species such as seals and the rare Maui's dolphin. Meet the plant and animal impostors introduced from overseas, many of which have wreaked havoc on the ecology of the region. Look up at the towering cliff inhabited by shrieking gulls, swooping petrels and the meek blue penguin.
Humans, too, have made their mark on Taranaki and have changed its landscape forever – harnessing the natural environment to produce bricks, iron, coal, natural gas and oil.
Before you leave, glance at the geological clock and see if a new change is about to happen to Taranaki’s landscape – is the ground shaking? Is the mountain waking up?