Auckland Hotels
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A tour around Auckland- New & old, big & small
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OK, so we know we've been a bit slow updating but as we've stated before New Zealand is really laid-back and we've been following the example. Being in the city centre gives you a lot to do, even if its just a walk around the shops or a stroll down to the harbour. It has also been flipflop weather, which we're guessing is better than the snow we've seen reported in England on the News.
In order to best see the sights that Auckland has to offer, we took a tour on the Auckland Explorer bus. It cost about $45 dollars for two days and was one of these 'hop off, hop on' tours. They play this tape recording as a tour guide and if you can get over the slightly annoying voice, you can get a lot of information on some of the biggest tourist attractions in the area. This includes places such as Parnell village (one of the oldest suburbs), Mt Eden (Auckland's highest point), the Civic Theatre, the Americas Cup Viaduct harbour and Sky Tower.
We saw all this, but decided to exercise our 'hop off' right at Auckland Museum. The Museum is a beautiful white building built on the site of a volcano that erupted about 600 years ago. They even have an exhibit on volcanoes, where you can sit in a room that is mocked up to be a living room and they run you through the scenario as if the volcano is suddenly erupting. Complete with shaking floor, flickering lights, worried news reports and the view of the eruption through the window. Of course in the aftermath silence, one is probably suppose to reflect on the fact that they would now be dead.
Anyway, on to a more cheerful note. Entrance is technically free but there is a suggested donation of $5 which seems quite fair. For an added $5 you can get your very own tour guide to show you around, which is more efficient than reading every plaque in the place. We strongly recommend this as the guides basically show you the best bits and are usually full of random, but interesting little nuggets of information.
The cultures represented are plentiful, with exhibits from many of the Polynesian cultures, of course the Maori being represented the most. The artifacts (including weapons, statutes, and structures) are not only beautiful but amazingly complex for the time they were made. There are several Maori buildings on display that are incredible and even an old war canoe. If you decided to enter the Maori meeting hall on display, then you must remember to remove your shoes as a sign of respect.
You can also see representations of many of the animals and plants that are native only to New Zealand. The fact that this was an isolated Island for many, many years means that a very unique Eco system flourished. This includes the extinct to those still around, such as the famous Kiwi.
The war memorial is also worth a look. There are exhibits that cover all the wars that New Zealand has been involved in.With uniforms from the New Zealand wars, Word Wars I and II and even a mock up trench from Gallipolli. With sections dedicated to many of the countries involved in these wars, it was interesting to see the RAF Spitfire and the very rare Kamikaze plane in one piece. There is by no means a glorification of war and the walls etched with the name of every soldier from Auckland engaged in active service during each war is a poignant reminder.
Less serious and one of our favourite parts was the full scale model shops that were built to look like the Queen Street of years ago. With the old Hotel, the Apothecary, and General store, there is a feeling of being back in time in this indoor little village. It also gave you the feeling of being in a huge toy town, but that may have just been us. All we know is we would have loved one of these when we were young... well younger.
In all a good day well worth the money and excellent in giving you more of an idea about the island as a whole.
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