Sunday February 3 was another warm, sunny day with a high of 26C and a lovely breeze. We decided to pay a visit to the weekly Grey Lynn Farmers' Market a few blocks away.
 |
| Wonderful trees on the street where we are staying |
 |
| Market was both outside on the street and inside a community hall |
We then walked up the street to take a bus to the Auckland War Memorial Museum/Auckland Museum which is located in a large park called The Auckland Domain.
 |
| Another gorgeous monarch butterfly in the Reserve beside our studio |
 |
| View of the Sky Tower from the bus--- looks like TO |
The Museum's collections and exhibits began in 1852. The Museum building was inaugurated in November 1929. It is one of New Zealand's most important museums and war memorials.
 |
| One side of the Museum- very imposing |
There was one small special exhibit called
The Secret World of Butterflies. It featured the collection of the late Ray Shannon (1917-2008). He had collected 13,000 butterflies, many caught out in the field and others bought from butterfly dealers. Most came from Asia and South America.
 |
| Poster for show |
 |
| All you want to know about butterflies |
New Zealand has 25 species of butterfly- with 19 found only in the country. Monarch butterflies which were imported are amongst the ones seen most often.
 |
| Alain among the butterflies-- quite a collection |
We then started to explore the permanent collection of the Museum. One floor is dedicated to New Zealand's role in WWI and II. We started with the WWII section, which had a lot of artefacts and written history. It was fascinating to get the New Zealand perspective on the war. The first section dealt with the cruisers HMS Achilles, Exeter and Ajax which fought the first naval action of the war against the German battleship, Admiral Graf Spee on December 13, 1939. The New Zealand ships were hit and withdrew out of range but they managed to cripple the German ship that then sailed into Montevideo in Uruguay. The Captain sank the ship and committed suicide. The Achilles and her crew returned to New Zealand in February 1940 to a hero's welcome. A piece of history not in our history books.
 |
| Exhibits of New Zealand women at war |
 |
| Battles in Italy |
 |
| Former prisoners of war identified themselves in response to the Museum's question |
 |
| Spitfire |
We then went into the WWI section. It had more modern displays and highlighted New Zealand's role in the "Great War".
 |
| Māori involvement in the war- picture of send-off by communities |
 |
| Time line of battles- Passchendale was the bloodiest day in the history of the New Zealand army |
 |
| 100,000 New Zealanders served overseas in WWI. Nearly one in five never came home and 40,000 were wounded. |
 |
| Rotunda with names of New Zealanders killed in WWI |
We then visited a small room called the Holocaust Gallery. There was a brief display of the history of the Holocaust and then a wall with audio reminiscences of survivors who emigrated to New Zealand. We heard the incredible story of the father of Esther and grandfather of Daniella who we visited earlier in our trip. He survived Auschwitz. Very moving exhibit.
We then went to the main floor to the section on Māori and Polynesian history.
 |
| Kave, Goddess Figure-- carved in early 1800s. Presented to the Museum 1878 |
 |
| Beautiful jewellery |
 |
| More necklaces |
 |
| Alain beside a large waka (canoe) -- carving suggested it belonged to a chief |
 |
| Incredible carvings |
 |
| View from one end |
We took the bus back to our neighbourhood and stopped for a drink at Hopper's Garden Bar. A wonderful spot that features 18 craft beers (rotating), wines, botanical gin cocktails and interesting treats.
 |
| Pictures on the wall |
 |
| Folks sharing gin drink served in a teapot |
 |
| Bar at end of the garden |
 |
| Hopper???? |
 |
Alain with his craft beer (a Pilsner), and my Americano Spritz (white Vermouth, Prosecco, soda, mint
and a piece of pink grapefruit) |
 |
| With my soft shell crab bao |
After our treats, we headed back to the apartment to pack and have another fish dinner.
Sunday was our last full day in Auckland. We head out on Monday by bus for Rotorua. We have really enjoyed our time in Auckland. Lots to see and do in the city and on the surrounding Islands. The weather has been exceptional and we can't get over all the green areas of the city. We like the cottage-like houses and the tropical plants. Public transit has not been a highlight (luckily we like to walk) and there is a lot of sprawl for a city of around 1.7 million. We would HIGHlY recommend a visit to Auckland. It more than met our expectations.
Please note that this is being posted from Rotorua on Tuesday February 5. WIFI has not been working where we are staying and I am posting this from a lovely café.
Comments
Post a Comment