Auckland City War Museum and New Years!

I'll try to make this as quick and descriptive as possible :) Sonia and I had a blast on the saturday, then come sunday we thought we'd try to hit the museum AND the zoo in one day. HA. We got to the museum and it was HUGE!!!





The museum is usually free with a highly recommended $5 donation. However, we dug into our wallets and paid the extra to get to see the Maori performance:

The performance showcased traditional Maori song and dance, which oddly enough includes the guitar instrument (since the late 1800s), weapons demonstrations and the HAKA!



This guy was great:





The museum was full of amazing things and by the end of it we were extremely tired and giddy. Some of the highlights included:

Maori Carvings and instruments. The instruments below were very similar to the ones Riki played for us at the Rangers' station.





There was a huge display on Volcanic activity, seeing as how that's what New Zealand geography is all made up of. We got to pick up rocks, and see a real casting of a Pompeii victim. THAT was cool.



We learned about it in grade school, but actually seeing this really put it into perspective. What a horrific way to go....





We even got to experience an imitation eruption! They herded us into a little fake living room and we got a 5 minute demo on what the end of auckland would feel like, including fake news broadcast, a bit of shaking (lame compared to what I was expecting), power outage, and a "view" of the harbour as it erupted. It was pretty cool. I was a bit afraid to go in, but then after was disappointed at how gentle they were on us. I guess it's a museum, not a theme park, afterall!

There was also a whole bunch of information on old fashioned dress, food and lifestyle. They had a stuffed elephant in this exhibit as well, which I thought was odd. It was an elephant who just didn't make the cut when it came to being ridable at the auckland zoo (funny that, being a wild animal) so they killed him and stuffed him and put him on display, then retired him to the basement. His name was Rajah, and I never took a photo. Maybe it was too sad. We cheered up quickly when we found the giant wall of candy:



The giant "swimming pool":



The giant moa (the feather's were harvested from kiwis, not actual moas, they are extinct):



The giant weta insects (yes, they still exist that size here today):



The giant plane:



And, then we got sad again at the giant war memorial:

An entire floor dedicated to the wars fought by New Zealanders. Including both World Wars.



We ended up getting so tired by the end that we started imitating carvings from the pacific islands:





It was a great adventure, even if we didn't have time for the zoo, but that's ok, we saw a bunch of live animals at the museum! Such as an octopus, cockroaches, stick insects, fish, crayfish, seahorses and:

Frogs



We also saw some "not so alive" animals as well:

Kiwi Bird!!! If you ignore the glass in the corner, and the little indicator number, it looks just like we really saw him in the wild! or.. at least that's what we tell ourselves...



Ferret, Weasel and stoats. The weasel is the smallest and is about the height of an unsharpened pencil.



After the museum I rushed home, packed my bag and met Sonia back at the hostel. We got all glammed up and then went out to the local backpackers club. It was an interesting night full of interesting people, but we still had a great time with each other. Don't we look spectacular?



Haha! All the best to you all throughout this year! HUGS!!