Ground Floor
Outside, Atrium and Foyer
Outside, Atrium and Foyer
I've found the comparatively new layout of the ground floor can be a touch confusing, if you've never been the museum before. It's impossible to get from one side of the ground floor without either going outside or walking around the building itself or going through the section you're supposed to pay to get into. (I remember having the museum shop connect the "free" areas).
I really like the new interior, with the offices turned into a massive wooden ball though.
Pacific Islands
Pacific Islands
Given that this is a New Zealand Museum, the Pacific Islands section is quite large and has a decent range of different artefacts.
Maori
Maori
The ground floor Maori exhibit is the first of 2 sections relating to the history of Maoris - the second is the "Maori Natural History" section on the first floor. This section on the ground is the biggest and has all of the old Maori buildings - some of which you can go into so long as you remove your shoes before hand.
Encounter
Encounter
This area has clothes and furniture made in New Zealand, starting the 1800s to more modern examples. They have a large enough collection, including enough older pieces, that I find it an interesting part of the museum that looks at the items that people would have actually used or worn every day. (That said I am biased prefer the items that are 100 or more years old, as they seem more "museumy" to me).
Wild Child
Wild Child
This area is the children's themed section, with a strong focus on old toys of course. Among the other displays in this section there is the stuffed elephant I remember previously being in the section dedicated to Natural History and full of animals, and a tree house that can with a small display in the middle. One of my nieces loved the tree house as it's possible to get inside it and climb up to a tiny section part of the way up the tree house...
Music
Music
This section is tiny, especially when compared other parts of the museum! It is full of a wide variety of different instruments, but to an untrained eye most of them look exactly the same as modern instruments and aren't that interesting to look at.
Level 1
Arts of Asia
Arts of Asia
I actually like this part of the museum, the cloth and clothes on display are all very nice - I don't think my photos do them credit, especially for the items inside the glass displays. But, again, it's one of the small sections of the museum.
Origins
Origins
This is one of the 3 sections, including the "Land" and the "Coastal" sections, which look at the natural environment in New Zealand. This section also includes things the dinosaur skeletons which obviously are not from here, unlike the Moa recreations...
Land
Land
This is one of the 3 sections, including the "Origins" and the "Coastal" sections, which look at the natural environment in New Zealand. The stuffed birds I remember from going to the museum as a child are spread out in this section and in the "Coastal" sections. But this part does have an interesting part on glow worms.
Coastal
Coastal
This is one of the 3 sections, including the "Origins" and the "Land" sections, which look at the natural environment in New Zealand. The stuffed birds I remember from going to the museum as a child are spread out in this section and in the "Land" sections. This is one of the parts of the museum which has living animals in it, in this case starfish.
Ancient Worlds
Ancient Worlds
Compared to other international museum's collections, this area is very small. But it's still interesting if very limited.
Maori Natural History
Maori Natural History
This area is about the cultural aspects of Maori heritage, which looks at the ways that Maoris have traditionally viewed the world around them and how certain items made by them have fitted into their world view.
Level 2
Auckland 1866
Auckland 1866
This has been one of my favourite parts of the museum since I was a child and is part I always go to, despite the fact that it hasn't been changed for the most part since it was first set up in 1966. This a street set up with houses and various shops along the lines of the houses and shops found in Auckland 1866, and is a separate "street" where you move from "building" to "building" along the street.
WW1/Boer War/NZ Wars
WW1/Boer War/NZ Wars
This area has separate sections for the New Zealand Wars, the Boer War and for the first World War, but they are part of a larger continues section that looks at the main wars New Zealand has been involved with and runs into the section on the second World War.
WWII Hall of Memories
WWII Hall of Memories
This area is a long hall which has a list of the men who died during World War II on the walls.
Spitfire
Spitfire
This is a World War II Spitfire, which has a walk way around part of the room allowing people to walk around the plane and look down at it.
Armory
Armory
This is a small collection of old firearms.
Special Exhibitions
Special Exhibitions
This page lists all of the temporary exhibitions held by the Auckland Museum.
Auckland Museum Map
Auckland Museum Map - Back
Other Auckland Museum related links on this site
Auckland Museum related links not on this site
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