Auckland - Museum

My other request for Auckland was to visit the museum.  

Auckland from Harbour Bridge

First Kath drove us up to Birkenhead to pick up Matthew from his new flat.   He has a nice view over Auckland from his balcony.

Auckland from Birkenhead

I'd not been to the Auckland Museum before and was keen to see the it, especially the Maori and Pacific Island collection.   The Maori treasures court has a 'wharenui' (Maori meeting house) very much like the one I remember from the Otago Museum when I was growing up.  That one was called 'Mataatua' and was returned to the Ngati Awa tribe in 2011 (link).

I used to love hanging out in the meeting house and looking at the carvings.  So it was good to be able to enjoy that feeling again and share it with Hannah.

This meeting house, 'Hotunui', was carved in the late 1870s by the same Ngati Awa team who created 'Mataatua' a few years earlier (link).   The structure of the house and carvings are heavy with symbolism about the ancestors.    I have to say I'm pretty ignorant of this, so I was grateful that Katherine was able to explain to us.

"A wharenui resembles the human body in structure, and usually represents a particular ancestor of the tribe.

The tekoteko (carved figure) on the roof top in front of the house represents the head, and the maihi (front barge boards) are the arms held out in welcome to visitors. The amo are short boards at the front of the wharenui representing legs, while the tahuhu (ridge pole), a large beam running down the length of the roof, represents the spine. The heke (rafters), reaching from the tahuhu to the poupou (carved figures) around the walls, represent the ribs.

Many wharenui contain intricate carvings and panels that refer to the whakapapa (genealogy) of the tribe, and to Māori stories and legends. It is also common to see photos of loved ones who have passed away placed inside".  (link)

There was also a beautifully carved 'Pātaka' or storehouse used to keep preserved food like fish, kūmara (sweet potato), and seeds safe during the winter.  It’s built on legs and has a tiny door to stop animals from getting in.

Pataka storehouse

Many of the carvings feel quite modern although they are actually very old.    The gallery had a lot of very striking maori art, especially carvings and weapons.    I was very interested to see the collection of famous clubs and spears and read their stories - it seems many had become famous heirlooms by being used to dispatch a particularly important enemy.

Carving detail

There is an impressive carved war canoe 'Te Toki-ā-Tāpiri' (The adze of Tapiri), carved from a giant totara tree.    One of the last of the traditional waka taua (war canoes) remaining from the 1800s it was carved in 1836, is 25 metres long and carried up to 100 people.  See this blog link for some interesting stories about this canoe in use.

Maori War Canoe

We didn't have time for a good look at the pacific island gallery.  I'd hoped to  learn more about seagoing canoes and navigation.   But I was struck by this ingeniously carved canoe prow, and am curious what it traditional activity it is depicting.

Pacific Island carved canoe prow 

Another highlight was the Maori cultural show.   Hannah particularly enjoyed it, and listened excitedly to the songs.

Poi dance 

I hadn't known that the poi dance, which we associate with maori women, was originally a training method for warriors to build wrist flexibility (the importance of which I can appreciate from my tai chi sword training).

Haka war-dance

The show was engaging and witty, with a good mix of content.

Haka dance

Another priority for me was to show Hannah a giant Moa, and explain to her why New Zealand had no animals at all until the Maori arrived around 1300AD.   As I'd hoped, the Natural History Gallery (link) had a very good display of how New Zealand had split from Gondwana 100 million years ago, before mammals had evolved.

Giant Moa

So I got to show Hannah the model of the 3m-tall giant Moa like the ones that used to live throughout New Zealand until they were hunted to extinction around 1500, a few centuries after the first humans arrived.    I find this fascinating but wasn't able to spark Hannah's interest.

Captured Zero Fighter 

Since the Auckland Museum is also a war memorial there was an extensive display about New Zealand military history : the Maori wars, WW1 and WW2.    We had run out of time, but we had a quick look at the Japanese Zero fighter captured at the end of the war before its Kamikaze pilot could fly his final mission.  Rika was interested to read how the mechanic had delayed fixing the plane in order to save lives.

WW2 Poster 

Compared with Chinese museums there was less emphasis on Japanese atrocities.  But of course we took the opportunity to tease Rika a little.  Which she always enjoys.

By now Hannah was very restless,  so we left the Museum and walked down into town through the Domain.

Auckland War Memorial

Like any 7 year-old who has been cooped-up for too long, Hannah enjoyed the opportunity to run about... 

Auckland Domain

...  as did Matthew and Thomas.

Band Rotunda

For Dinner we met up with Kath and Eleanor and went back to Birkenhead.  We had dinner at a Korean restaurant very close to Matt's flat, which was run by a very charming couple.   As we were talking to them about Korean food,  they mentioned that they normally add extra sugar to cater for New Zealand tastes.    We asked for a selection of our favorite dishes to be cooked Korean-style which was a big hit with the family.    

Eleanor, Hannah and Thomas

And then our holiday was over.  Soon we were filling-in departure cards at Auckland airport

Departure Card