Museum sights in Auckland
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A
Howick Historical Village
This fascinating 'living' museum will split visitors along 'Isn't it tacky/fascinating' lines, with its costumed staff evoking the atmosphere of Auckland in the turbulent pioneering era from the 1840s to the 1880s. There are over 30 buildings, many relocated here from other parts of the region.
The streets, the pond with ducks and geese, and the village gardens are faithful reconstructions of Victorian fashion, and there's a cafe with homemade goodies as well. There is a theme day on the third Sunday of each month, with special events and displays such as the blacksmith working at the forge, the 65th Regiment firing its muskets, and maybe even a chance to see the school i…
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B
Museum of Transport & Technology
Nothing makes you feel quite as old as seeing your childhood appliances in a museum. That sobering experience is offered at MOTAT, a 19-hectare trainspotter’s paradise spreading over two sites. In MOTAT 1 look out for Helen Clark’s Honda 50 motorbike and the cutesy pioneer village. MOTAT 2 is an aircraft graveyard, featuring rare military and commercial planes. The two sites are linked by a vintage tram, which passes the park and zoo. It’s a fun kids’ ride whether you visit MOTAT or not.
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C
Voyager – New Zealand Maritime Museum
This well-presented museum traces NZ’s seafaring history from Maori voyaging canoes to the America’s Cup. Recreations include a tilting 19th-century steerage-class cabin and a fab 1950s-era bach (holiday home). Its newest showcase, Blue Water Black Magic, is a tribute to Sir Peter Blake, the Whitbread-Round-The-World and America’s Cup-winning yachtsman who was murdered in 2001 while on an environmental monitoring trip on the Amazon. Check the website for details of semiregular historic steamboat and sailing-shipcruises.
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D
Auckland Museum
Dominating the Auckland Domain is this magnificent museum, an imposing Greek temple with an impressive modern dome. Its comprehensive display of Pacific Island and Maori artefacts on the ground floor deserves to be on your ‘must see’ list. Highlights include a 25m war canoe and an extant carved meeting house from the Thames area that you can enter (remove your shoes first). Bookings are required for the museum highlights guided tour. Maori gallery tours (same prices) take place at 11.30am and 2pm. Daily Maori cultural performances provide a good (and good-humoured) introduction to things Maori.
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E
Stevenson Discovery Centres
The museum's dedicated children's galleries are hands down the best hands-on learning centres. The Weird & Wonderful gallery has drawers full of spiders, jars full of fish and atriums of scurrying cockroaches, plus microscopes and dress ups a plenty. Treasures & Tales provides insights into everything from woodwork to music.
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F
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G
Navy Museum
The New Zealand Navy's history is on display here at the Navy Museum.
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H
MOTAT 2
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I
