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.