Meeting house
Carved wood.
Daan Hoffmann / Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira — CC BY 2.0 · Richard Ng — CC BY 2.0 · Daan Hoffmann / Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira — CC BY 2.0
One of New Zealand's most important museums, in an imposing colonnaded neoclassical building on a dormant volcanic hill in the Auckland Domain, built in the 1920s as a war memorial and later enlarged, looking out over the city and harbour. Its treasure is the collection of the Māori, New Zealand's Indigenous people, and of the Pacific peoples, among the largest in the world: a complete carved wooden Māori meeting house, a huge war canoe hollowed from a single tree, greenstone ornaments, and traditional tools and clothing. Other floors hold natural history halls with skeletons of the giant extinct moa, a volcano gallery that simulates an eruption in Auckland, and the war memorial halls with soldiers' names. The museum holds daily Māori cultural performances of song and dance. Entry is free for New Zealand residents, with a fee for international visitors of about NZ$32 per adult, per visitor guides. The surrounding parkland is a lovely place for a stroll.
Carved wood.
Song and dance.
An eruption simulation.
Auckland Domain, Parnell, Auckland
Free for New Zealand residents; international visitors pay about NZ$32, per visitor guides.
