I recently wrote an article about the Top 45 Things to do in Auckland and of course I had to include the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
The Museum is one New Zealand’s first museums. Construction started in 1925 and was completed by 1929. The building’s architects drew on inspiration from Greco-Roman temples with their neo-classical design. It is considered one of the finest Greco-Roman buildings in the Southern Hemisphere. The interior plasterwork incorporates Māori details in an amalgamation of Neo-Greek and Art-deco styles.
On the inside, the Museum is set out over three floors. Ground Floor, Level 1 and Level 2.
The Ground Floor
The Ground floor is where you enter and get tickets in addition to bathroom facilities. In terms of the exhibits, the Ground floor is mainly concerned with Māori and Polynesian history and heritage. There is a Marae here build inside the museum. A Marae is a Māori communal building which serves as a place for religious and social purposes.
Intricate carvings are all over the Marae are an incredible sight. They tell a story about ancestral and tribal heritage. You will have to take your shoes off to enter as the Marae is a sacred place in Māori culture.
Additionally on the Ground Floor, you can see a huge traditional Māori Waka Taua. (war canoe) The vessel has been handcrafted from Totara Tree and includes paua shell inset eyes. It is one of the last originals from the 1800s been build in 1836. This is the exact type of Canoe that the Māori would have rowed out in to greet the first European explorers including Captain James Cook.
Another type of boat on display in the Pacific Masterpieces room is an outrigger canoe. Vaka Tapu is from the island of Tikopia in the Solomon Islands. These types of vessels are the ones Polynesians including the Māori used to populate the far flung islands of the Pacific. If you have seen the movie Moana, you will recognise the vessel straight away.
Level 1
Level 1 consists of a mixture of exhibits including volcanoes natural history and ceramics. One of my favourites is the simulated eruption of a Volcano in the Auckland Volcanic Field all viewed from living room setting. This really gives you a good idea of how it would feel to be in a volcanic eruption.
Another favourite and hugely popular with kids, is the Weird & Wonderful section. Complete with microscopes and interactive displays, you can get up close and personal and even handle objects from throughout the natural world.
The Origins rooms tell the story of our geological world. It starts with New Zealand splitting away from the super continent of Gondwana. A life sized replica of the Moa is also on display. Moas were a native species of flightless bird resembling an Ostrich, except much larger. Unfortunately, they are now extinct.
Level 2
This level is mostly concerned with New Zealand at war including The Māori Land Wars, The Boer War and World Wars I and II. This includes a huge war memorial dedicated to all the New Zealanders who gave their lives during these conflicts.
There is a 1945 Spitfire Mark XVI and Japanese Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero-sen 22 or “Zero” each with their own dedicated room. Very cool machines and both instrumental to their respective sides in World War II.
Also on this level is Scars of the Heart. An award winning gallery illustrating the human cost of war. The gallery spans the New Zealand wars of the 1840s and 1860s, the Anglo-Boer Wars of 1899 to 1902 right through to the first and second world wars. Of particular interest is a recreation of an Anzac bivvy at Gallipoli and a Western Front trench from the Great War, complete with periscopes to view the enemy with.
The Auckland War Memorial Museum is open year round including public holidays with the exception of Christmas Day. It is free to all visitors on ANZAC day (25th April)
Hours are: 10AM – 5PM weekdays, 9AM – 5PM weekends and public holidays.
Admission costs to the Museum: $28 NZD Adult $14 NZD Child.
Note: It is free for residents of Auckland therefore if you have any family or friends living in Auckland, get them to take you.
The Domain & Wintergardens
Be sure to take a wander through The Domain after your visit to the Auckland War Memorial Museum. There are many bush walks to be taken through the park as well as ponds and ducks to visit. Also of interest, are the Wintergardens. This complex was created in the early 1900s and has a wide range of native and exotic plants from all around the world.
Wintergardens opening hours:
1 April – 31 October – Monday to Sunday 9am – 4.30pm
1 November – 31 March – Monday to Saturday 9am – 5.30pm and Sunday 9am – 7.30pm
Admission is free