If you were to read every label and view every exhibit, it would apparently take you a week to give Te Papa a thorough examination. Recently rated one as one of the 500 must-see places in the world by Lonely Planet, our national museum is currently hosting two blockbuster exhibitions, to complement the permanent treasures, like the colossal squid, Golden Days Kiwiana and the Earthquake House. 

The capital is all abuzz following the pre-summer opening of the Dreamworks Animation Exhibition.  Fresh from its barnstorming world premiere in Melbourne, summer visitors to Te Papa are enthralling themselves in the fantastical worlds of Po the Panda, Shrek the Ogre and Alex the Lion, with the exhibition running all summer long. Showcasing over two decades of Dreamworks Animation, it’s an illuminating insight into the creative wizardry behind big-screen classics, from Antz (1998) through to the studio’s latest release, Home.

The exhibition is a bit like prising open the studio’s vaults, with never-before-seen original artworks and models, behind-the-scenes interviews and spectacular interactive experiences, headlined by Dragon Flight.  Melbourne went gaga over this exhilarating panoramic dragon ride, soaring through a virtual sky on the back of Toothless, featuring never-before-seen vision of Berk, the Viking township from How to Train Your Dragon. Even if you saw the exhibition in Melbourne, Te Papa has added its own ingenious twist to the exhibition, with a stack of interactive add-on activities, to fire up the creative spirit of Kiwi kids.

Alongside the animation magic, the crowds continue to swoon on the ground-breaking national exhibition to mark the centenary of the First World War. Gallipoli: The Scale of our War combines the gravitas of a museum with the world-beating creative ingenuity of Weta Workshop to produce a heart-rending tribute to all New Zealanders who fought for King and Country. The $8 million production is centred around 8 Kiwis who served and their stories are brought to life on a monumental scale.

The super-sized figures of the seven soldiers and nurse, captured in action, are absolutely arresting. Taking 24,000 hours to create, the scrupulous and life-like detailing is truly remarkable, from the sweat beads on a soldier’s brow to their blood-stained bandaging. Their real life stories help inject an unvarnished and humanising view of the Gallipoli campaign into the exhibition, as do the accompanying exhibits  which include 3D maps and projections, miniatures, models, dioramas, and personal mementos.

My favourite curio is the story of “Torty” the Tortoise, who was brought home by a soldier from Gallipoli as a pet. Torty is the sole living survivor of the campaign in New Zealand, alive and well and happily munching on apricots in Hawkes Bay. The poppy reflection pond, where you can pen your private thoughts, is a poignantly fitting climax to this stirring exhibition, which runs until Armistice Day, 1918. Te Papa staff shared me with a top tip: The museum can get particularly congested in the morning, so for a far more relaxing experience, sans the crowds, time your Te Papa perusing for the afternoon. www.tepapa.govt.nz

The other head-turning presentational masterpiece, in memory of World War I in Sir Peter Jackson’s exceptional creation: The Great War Exhibition, at the Dominion Museum. ( Also running through to 1918.) In a herculean effort, Sir Peter called on his creative teams at Wingnut Films and Weta Workshop to unleash their design brilliance to construct the exhibition in just 3 months.

It’s an engrossing and profoundly moving journey, commencing in a peaceful re-created street setting of Ypres, Belgium in 1914.Then the full-tilt horror and immensity of war confronts you with vivid sets of battle scenes, complete with uniforms, life-size tanks and weapons, wheeled out from Sir Peter’s private collection.

It’s a multi-sensory head-swirl, with the sounds of men cheerfully marching off to war, followed by the cacophony of gunfire and shelling. The Trench Exhibit is hauntingly real, the Trench Exhibition will open, where you hear and smell the soul-sapping environment that thousands of men had to contend with, complete with the smells of rotting bodies, rats, cooking, gun oil, and latrines.

What struck me most about the exhibition is the deliberate use of colour in all the photography. Every inch is in colour, because Jackson imposed a ban on black and white. Hundreds of photos were colourised from black and white, because Jackson wanted the public to see the war in the same colours as the soldiers experienced it - not grainy black and white. It’s a masterstroke, because those hundred year old photos look as if it could have been yesterday, making the horror and heartbreak all the more confronting, raw and resonant.  150,000 visitors have already seen the exhibition, which will continue to evolve between now and 2018, to highlight key periods during World War I. It’s a must see (greatwarexhibition.nz).

Beyond the centenary commemorations, another essential dollop of museum adventure can be found on Wellington Museum’s top floor space, fittingly named The Attic. Freshly opened in November, I felt like a kid in a candy shop, exploring all its stash of hands-on features. It’s stuffed with quirky and whimsical Wellington curios, like the zoo lions that were taxidermied, the chimpanzee tea party tables and chairs, film props, Dame Whina’s walking stick from the Great March, a wondrous UFO display and even a time machine, which spins and clanks its way through time, zipping you through Wellington’s evolution and recent history.

My guide explained to me that the exhibition space’s widely used technique is dispersion, whereby items are deliberately placed together with hidden meanings. For example, an oerlikon cannon is placed next to a retired TV camera from Avalon Studios, because they both shot people. It’s all about the unusual and unexpected in The Attic. It’s free to enter and a bundle of fun. www.museumswellington.org.nz/theattic/

For a complete change of scenery, I surrendered to Wellington’s wondrous urban wilderness, by experiencing the unique encounter of Zealandia’s night tour, in Karori. Just minutes from the city centre, it’s an absolute novelty to have a ground-breaking restoration project so close to the CBD. The award-winning Zealandia eco-attraction is a national treasure and the introductory film in the visitor centre whisks you through 80 million years of natural history.

Within the sanctuary valley, which spans 225 hectares and laced with 30km of walking tracks, kaka, kiwi, takahe, giant weta, tuatara and ever-expanding flocks of saddlebacks, kereru, bellbirds and tui, are flourishing in the heart of capital. Over 100 little spotted kiwi call the valley home, so there's a good chance of spotting one at night. I wrapped up warm and joined a night tour as the sun set and the birdsong was orchestral. As darkness took hold, the squawks of the kaka and company died away and silence took hold.

Suddenly the piercing cry of the kiwi reverberated across the valley. The boys call out to the girls, who reply on queue. I’d never heard the call of the kiwi prior to coming to Zealandia. I was stunned such a relatively shy bird can make such a racket. Ably led through the walking trails past magical spectacles of glowworms, with a trusty infra-red torch in hand, I spotted two kiwi, fossicking for food in the foliage, just a metre away from me. I felt patriotically uplifted. Zealandia by night on a warm summer evening, is a singularly special place. www.visitzealandia.com