Te Manawa’s roaring dinosaur party
The opening of Te Manawa’s latest exhibition almost seemed like any other.
Politicians, patrons and VIPS schmoozed, ducked under tails, snacked on savoury pies and patted a 2-metre tall extinct predator on the head.
The adolescent T-rex, puppeted by a performer concealed inside a shoulder-mounted robotic rig, mingled with the crowd gathered to celebrate the opening of Dinosaur Encounter in Palmerston North on Friday night.
Dinosaur creations were also seen at the city’s airport and a spring festival the next day.
Te Manawa is the first museum in the southern hemisphere to host the exhibition, which is from the Natural London.
Te Manawa concepts and engagement leader Kristelle Plimmer said Palmerston North was lucky to get such a wonderful exhibition.
‘‘[The Dinosaur Encounter team] happened to have a slot coming up with enough time to transport it to New Zealand. As soon as it’s done here it heads back to Europe.’’
The encounter features nine moving dinosaur models. The centrepiece of the display is a massive 4.5-metre tall Tyrannosaurus Rex. But large as it is, the model is only three-quarters the size of the real thing.
Eight-year-old Nic Ernst came History Museum in up from Wellington with his mother especially for the opening.
He’d hoped to see his favourite, the pterodactyl, but it was still awesome to get a sneak peek at the display, he said.
‘‘I got to touch some of the ones upstairs, but the big one walking around tried to bite me.’’
Tahu Lowe said it was cool to get so close to the T-rex prowling the crowd.
He was startled when the carnivorous critter roared in his face, but the 7-year-old wasn’t going to be scared off, and he tried to turn the tables on the lizard.
‘‘I tried to catch his tail, but I couldn’t. He escaped.’’
Dinosaur Encounter will be at Te Manawa until February 26.