Dinosaurs are alive and well and rampaging around Palmy, and we only found out by accident. I had picked up an Air New Zealand magazine from our recent flight back home from Australia and read about this exhibition currently on show at Te Manawa Museum. All the way from the prestigious Natural History Museum of London, no less! We had seen the dinosaur exhibition on our UK trip a few years ago, read about our previous sighting of the dinosaurs in the Natural History Museum here.
Why is it such a secret, we wondered. We had seen no sign of local advertising in newspapers or on the radio, and no huge billboards adorning the streets of Palmerston North. Very strange indeed. Yesterday we checked it out, purchased our tickets and joined crowds of school kids as they noisily ran around the exhibition.
This way to the dinosaurs
The exhibition was very well done, with lifelike moving models squeaking, chattering, and roaring their heads off, brought to life by state-of-the-art animatronics. It all started, as good dinosaur stories do, in the nursery. The eggs were carefully incubated and hatched, the youngsters didn’t stop growing and couldn’t be controlled, and then the creatures broke out of their cages to run amok through the city. We walked into the exhibition to see a state of devastation, broken masonry everywhere, sirens screaming, and dinosaurs on the warpath.
We could hear the sounds of planes hurriedly taking off as a giant T-Rex rampaged around the Palmerston North airport. Luggage and trollies were overturned, shoes and handbags were left lying on the ground, and no doubt passengers were quivering in fear and locked in the bathrooms in the airport building. Tyrannosaurus Rex, with his strength, great vision and sense of smell, was the number one predator in the dinosaur world.
T Rex causing havoc in front of the airport building
Keeping a wary eye on T Rex were three much smaller Oviraptors, also known as “egg thieves”. Their powerful, toothless jaws were ideal for crushing eggs.
Oviraptors – egg thief dinosaurs
And the Palmerston North Hospital environs wasn’t safe either, with another T Rex terrorising the area. More broken masonry scattered about, seats overturned, and traffic lights and fences smashed and overturned. T Rex was joined by an Ankylosaurus, which relied on it’s heavy body armour and the bony club at the end of it’s tail to deter predators.
Another T Rex and an Ankylosaurus by the hospital
Two baby Triceratops were squeaking and staying close to their mother while all this carnage was going on. With their large horns and spiky neck frill the adults were quite capable of fighter off predators.
Family of Triceratops
The fish eating Baryonyx had found some dinner in the centre city pond – it’s teeth and jaws are similar to those of modern crocodiles.
Baryonyx with fish for dinner
The birdlike Ornithomimus was chattering away by an outdoors café in downtown Palmy. Café table and chairs were upended, and the street sign was lying ripped out and tossed aside. This creature has a strong likeness to a modern day ostrich or emu, and could run like the wind.
Ornithomimus in the wreck of the café
One of them got me in the end – HELP!!!
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