Of rocks and other things

Dionne Christian takes her would-be palaentologists pre-historic hunting

We'd read that West Auckland's Crystal Mountain had a new attraction, Dinosaur Gully, so we made the trek out with another family. It's been years since we visited the Crystal Mine museum. Processes that formed the world as we know it, and possibly helped end the dinosaurs' long reign, were involved in the formation of crystalline rocks.

A visit to the museum, and expansive gift shop, provides an idea of the range, colour and sheer beauty of crystals. The static exhibitions of crystals and minerals including their mining, replica fossils and dinosaur skeletons fascinated the kids. Giants of the Earth shows how big some crystals can get, but we adults would have appreciated more information.

On the opposite side of the park, there's a miniature farm plus rides like a mini roller coaster, train around the park, electronic tractors and pony rides and the dinosaurs: two stegosaurus, three small triceratops, a menacing T-Rex and a brachiosaurus and, oddly, a kangaroo. The position of the T-Rex and the brachiosaurus provides a glimpse at what it might have looked like had these two faced off.

To grown-up eyes, the place looks rundown and the grounds in need of a good tidy up but our kids (aged 3 to 9) loved it. They had the best time and spent the entire day going from ride to ride and back again, in and out of the museum and gaping at the dinosaurs. They really got their money's worth.

If ever there's a place to encourage a future scientist or palaeontologist, it's the museum. The natural history galleries feature life-sized replica skeletons of cryolophosaurus and malawisaurus, plus a flying pteranodon. My kids loved to learn about Joan Wiffen, the amateur palaeontologist who proved New Zealand was once home to dinosaurs. Miss Four was so impressed she went home and renamed one of her dolls Joan.

Unusual prehistoric objects -- a huge tooth from the largest shark that ever lived and a slab of rock from Kaikoura that shows the fossilised remains of an ocean-dwelling dinosaur, models of giant moa -- kept us happy, plus it's a hop, skip and a jump to the Weird and Wonderful children's centre.

Need to know

• Do it yourself palaentology James Crampton's easy-to-use The Kiwi Fossil Hunters Handbook (Random House, 2010) still gets packed whenever we hope there'sa chance of a bit of fossil-hunting.

Aimed at families and novice fossil hunters, the book explains what fossils are, how they're formed, and the best sites to find them, along with the right way to collect samples. Around Auckland head north to Mathesons Bay, near Leigh. Or one of our best adventures was at Mangapohue, near Waitomo Caves in the King Country. The Mangapohue Natural Bridge is a truly startling phenomenon of two limestone arches spanning the Mangapohue River, leaving numerous limestone crops with layers of oyster shell fossils. Search Mangapohue in doc.govt.nz

• Crystal Mountain, 80 Candia Rd, Swanson. Ultimate pass $35, petting zoo, museum and unlimited train rides $15; no family pass or free entry for children.

• Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland Domain, Parnell.