Bus tour and Auckland museum

Unfortunately the weather has been against me today which is very disappointing.  Today has been a complete washout and I may have to postpone my trip to Rangitoto island to Friday, although It's meant to be clearing up on thursday afternoon fingers crossed so this rain may be only a momentary thing.

On the whole, today has been alright.  My sleeping pattern is returning to normal as I went to bed at 8 oclock last night and woke up at half 5.  Not perfect but I'm getting there. 

When I woke up I packed my day pack and went down to the local post office to post my IRD number forms (tax forms for work) and proceeded to the hop on hop off Auckland bus tour.  

I got off at two stops, the first was the bastion point lookout which presented stunning views of Auckland and the harbour even though the weather was pretty grim.

In this picture you can see the Michael Joseph Savage memorial and Rangitoto island in the background.

Devonport and the harbour

Auckland

My next stop was the Auckland Museum.  This was definitely the highlight of my day.

The museum was split into three floors, the first floor was culture and history of New Zealand, the second was the natural history of New Zealand and the third was the war section of the history of New Zealand.

Inside the replica of a Maori meeting hut

The cultural floor was mainly concentrated on Maori history and culture particularly the carving skills of the Maori and all of the different types of carved objects and structures.

These were placed above doorways

A Maori Canoe

A Maori boat

This boats were used by ancient Polynesians to trade all over the pacific but to also travel and colonise newly discovered landmasses.  New Zealand was one of the land masses colonised by Maori traders and settlers possibly more than 1000 years ago, this is why canoes and boats are a central pillar of Maori culture.  

The amount of detail and precision applied to all of these carved object and structures is staggering, Maori style carving began when the early Maori/Polynesian settlers colonised the north and south islands.  The availablility of large trees to chop down and carve made the processes of building ships and huts much more easier + there was more wood for carving hence more practice and over time more developed craftsmanship.

I then bought tickets to see a maori cultural preformance.  3 maori women and 3 maori men performed traditional singing, dancing and of course the Haka.  I was greatly impressed by the performance and just can't wait to get to Rotorua so see the Maori village!

This man is blowing the conch shell and shouting "Maoris assemble!"

No he isn't really but he was blowing the conch shell to signal the beginning of the show.  The Maori, when Europeans arrived, used the conch shell to signal to the tribe that the Pakeha (white people) had arrived.  I'm not sure if this information is a 100% correct but the performers told me so I'm relying on the historical knowledge.

When I sat down in the performance theatre they introduced themselves and began to perform a dance and song to do with love.  It desribed how the tribe would sing for their warriors to come back from battle, to be reunited with their families and wife and children.

They also performed the Haka which was fantastic! 

After the cultrual performance I then worked my way through the natural history of New zealand section.  

One of the dinosaurs thought to have once populated New Zealand.  There was at one time debate to as whether dinosaurs had populated New Zealand at all as there were no large fossils recorded, howver over the past century bones and joints of dinosaurs have been found around New Zealand proving that dinosaurs had indeed once roamed New Zealand before and after its split from Gondwanaland. (Gondwana land is the other half of the super continent, pangea, to have broken away 500 million years ago)

The Moa, the extinct bird used to dominate the landscape of New Zealand before humans began to hunt the Moa for its feathers and meat.  It's one of the tallest types of bird.

AHH ERUPTION!  

Nah but they did have a specialised volcanic eruption section of the natural history floor.  This is mainly because Auckland was formed by volcanoes and sits over a hot spot in the earths crust.  The last eruption was 600 years ago and another eruption is expected but it is unknown as to when this will happen.  

There was also a volcanic eruption simulator which i thought I'd explore.  It was quite disturbing to see what would happen if there was a volcanic eruption in Auckland harbour.  it was also very interesting to see how prepared the New Zealand government is, incase one does happen.

In the simulator you sit down in a living room and watch the "window" showing the harbour and observe the developments of the eruption.

No signs yet

Boom 

Bye bye auckland (ignore the man in the suit he just randomly came on as I took the picture and he wouldn't go away) 

I then finally made my way onto the war section of the museum.  It was very eerie as there were a lot of New Zealand war memorials dotted all over the floor, it also made me realise that these men hadn't just died for the freedom of New Zealand but the freedom of most of the world as well.

The names of the fallen enscribed on the walls all around the square, and in the middle at the back is the flag room.

To commemorate all those who has fought with New Zealand in all of its wars.

A model of a fort constructed in the New Zealand civil war (Maori vs European settlers)

After my museum tour I wanted to go to Mt Eden but the weather was so bad there was practically no point which is a shame so it will have wait for another day.

Instead I caught the bus back to Queenstreet and have come back to YHA Auckland and am now waiting for the rain to stop so I can go for an explore.