This is renown for its excellent educational dioramas.

History
The museum was established in the 1860s by Julius von Haast the Canterbury geologist who gathered and traded Moa bones & skeletons with the museums world wide making this a leader of its time.   The museum now offers superb presentations relating to life styles of the past.

Egypt section we encounter an exceptional Egyptian mummy and see the x-ray photo of its contents.

Antarctica section has magnificent displays of early exploration, achievements, equipment used by- Amundsen, Scott, Shackleton, Hillary and others.  The dioramas exquisitely display amazing animals and we can hear the calls of whales. International Antarctic Centre

Transport section lets us see some of the progression of local systems from the old "penny farthing" bicycle.  Other museums in Christchurch cover transport more thoroughly for the enthusiasts.  Transport

Maori Culture section has one of the best displays of the South Island pre European culture, showing excellent dioramas of buildings, food, clothing, tools, settlement planning, transport and more. MORE  

Environmental Section shows us with graphic realism and models the affects of man's impact on nature including rivers, coasts, soils and air quality etc. See Conservation

Native Bird Section shows us the species of birds, some  rare and others quite common, that can be found in the zone. (See the world's largest, the giant Moa, since the arrival of humans only 1000 years ago).

Geography Sections contain excellent displays including meteorites, earthquakes, volcanoes, geology, giant world relief globe, rivers, weather and coasts. See Geology

Victorian Culture Section shows us fashion displays, household equipment, photos, and a reconstructed 1870's inner city street.

Book and Gift shop makes available excellent resource material.

 guide us to the areas we are studying and explain the background of the subjects of interest to us.

See also:  VIDEO    LINK   LINK2

Other Excellent Museums KANES encourage visitors to visit include:-
Shantytown,  Arrowtown,  Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin Museums

take you there and tailor your experiences to meet your interests