Auckland War Memorial Museum

Visited the Auckland War Memorial Museum and was impressed. Its location is spectacular, on a green hill close to downtown. The building is modern classical in style and exhibits are well laid out in themes covering the history of Auckland specifically and New Zealand. I came away with a better understanding of Maori culture and history as well as New Zealand’s post settlement history. The museum also has collections of ancient artifacts from Asia, Europe and the Americas. There is a natural history section and family friendly interactive science section. The volcanos exhibit was my favourite, with the immersive demonstration house, where you get to experience what it could be like if a nearby volcano erupts. This is a great museum well worth a visit. Highly recommended.

Great museum. Its not a museum to see all of the world's history and unleash a multitude of knowledge onto you but it is still a great place that explores Māori heritage and other categories. It has a large Marae on the inside and a waka and also has an interactive volcano room that brings back so many memories to when I was a kid and went here for a school trip. It is also free to Auckland residents so long as you have proof of address.

Visiting Auckland Museum for the first time was an absolute blast. We didn't have time for the special Sharks exhibition or the haka performance, but we did make it through all of their regular exhibits. I was surprised at the variety of displays for a "War Memorial Museum." There certainly is a war memorial element, but this is so much more than a war museum. It combines New Zealand's Māori and colonial history, world history, natural history, natural disasters, social commentary, and more. There are a lot of Māori artifacts and social commentary/discussions, which I love. There have a small but mighty display of global antiquities including pottery from ancient Greece, Mayan sculptures, and even an Egyptian mummy. There are multiple hands-on children's sections throughout as well, including a mildly terrifying mock house where you watch a volcano erupt outside the window and destroy everything in its path. The natural history section was my favorite. They have two dinosaurs, a pterosaur, and mosasaurus replicas displayed, along with ichthyosaurus, and plesiosaurus skull replicas. There was a decent number of authentic prehistoric fossils as well. The staff was super friendly and the gift shop was top notch. Next time, I hope to check out their special exhibitions and haka performance.