Mercury Bay Museum.

By Rebecca Cox.

Wow half the year has gone, and the next school holidays are now upon us along with the cooler weather.

We have some exciting things happening in the Museum these School holidays – ‘Cats in the Museum’ is the latest big hit at the movies and so we are collaborating with the Mercury Bay Library and Mercury Twin Cinemas to have some amazing activities going on in Whitianga.

We have a new ‘eye-spy’ that follows the theme of cats and so everyone will have to find the cat shapes hidden around the Museum. Our naughty dinosaurs have gone on holiday too so the cats have come out to play hide and seek – will you find them??

To celebrate the movie, we are also holding a family ‘Night at the Museum’ event ‘Lost Treasure of the Cats’. Come dressed as your favourite detective, bring your torch so you can find your way around the dark museum and help the cats find their ‘lost treasure’!!! This event will be on Friday 7th July at 5:30pm to 7pm. Tickets are $5 each and you can purchase them prior from the museum or at the door on the night. All children must be accompanied by an adult.

We have also been busy creating a new exhibition for Matariki. This exhibit is interactive and there are activities that will take you all over the Museum hunting for our scattered whetū/star! Come stand under the constellations, decorate a whetū/star or just curl up on the cushions with a book.

To finish the school holidays and celebrate Matariki, we are holding our Whanāu Day on Friday 14th July 10am – 3pm. Entry to the Museum will be by koha/donation. There will be activities for everyone. It is an opportunity to visit us if you haven’t been for a while!

We have another temporary exhibition in the planning stages so keep an eye out for that soon.

One last thing – are you are aware that the Museum has a gift shop? A lot of people are not aware. So next time you are thinking of buying a gift for someone else or just your self please come and see us. We have books, homewares, t-shirts, hats and much much more!

The Museum and the gift shop are open Monday to Saturday 10am to 3pm (last admission 2:15pm).

See you all soon – stay warm!.