Day 9 – Feb 8 Saturday – To Auckland for the hop on hop off bus
We boarded our trusty ferry for the quick ride to Auckland – the Golden Princess was in port – there is a different cruise ship almost every day. We found the guy to buy the hop on hop off bus passes from. On earlier travels we have learned that these are one of the best ways to visit the highlights of a city, and fortunately they have them in almost all major port cities. We bought a two day ticket with an add-on admission to the Auckland War Museum, which we have visited in the past, but always, it seemed, when we were rushed.
On the bus route – a water park that is actually in the water!
The Auckland War Museum sits high on the edge of one of the many extinct volcanoes in the area. All of them are used for parks, public facilities, and sports fields, rather than commercial businesses or residences.
One of my favorite exhibits – it shows the migration of the Polynesian people over a 3000 year period – from Asia to what is now French Polynesia, inhabiting Samoa, Tonga and others, then turning north to what is now Hawaii, going as far east as Easter Island, and finally migrating southwest to New Zealand. They are one of the three principal groups in the Pacific – Polynesians, Melanesians, and Micronesians, and typically each island group is one of those groups of peoples, seldom are more than one group found on an island.
Here are two of the many Maori exhibits in the museum. A reconstructed storehouse and a reconstructed gathering house.
A gathering house.
A storehouse.
Back to the theme of the “war” museum – they are displaying a German V1 Rocket from World War II. It is said that the British pilots attempted to fly close to these and tip their wings to send them off target.
They also have on display a British Spitfire fighter.
And a Japanese Zero.
We had lunch in the museum and spent the rest of the afternoon browsing there, and jumped on our bus for the trip back to center city. Before boarding the ferry, we found a Burger King and enjoyed some American food at American (almost) prices. The Whopper and Fries tasted just like they were fixed in Dallas.
Home to Devonport.