Today Bob and I stepped ashore in Auckland, a city of 1,400,000 residents, the most populous city in New Zealand, and the country’s largest industrial and commercial center. Called the City of Sails, Auckland boasts more boats than any other city in the world.  The British purchased the 3,000 acres on which Auckland was built from the Maoris for $110 and a few cheap trinkets, a deal that sounds suspiciously similar to our purchase of Manhattan. Named for the Earl of Auckland, the city was originally the capital of New Zealand, but that honor passed to Wellington in 1865.

Auckland, New Zealand’s largest commercial and industrial center 

Auckland Sky Tower

 
We contemplated spending a day bungee jumping or sky diving, but my fear of heights again dictated less adrenaline-pumped options. After a bit of general sightseeing that included quick stops at the Rose Park Gardens, the Holy Trinity Cathedral, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Bastion Point Lookout, and the Sky Tower; we devoted the major chunks of our time to the Auckland Zoo and the Auckland Museum.

Rose Park Garden 

Views from Bastion Point Lookout

The Auckland Zoo made our list because I had not yet met a Kiwi (the bird variety as opposed to human or fruit). For many tourists this might not be a highlight of their trip, but for me it was as compelling as seeing a kangaroo and a koala. Seeing a live kiwi is no easy task. These are shy, nocturnal animals and we had no plans to be out walking deserted country roads late at night. This was our only chance.

Statue of Elephant Welcomes Visitors to the Auckland Zoo 

A Curious Chimp Watches Passers-By

The zoo was worth every penny of admission, even though we only intended a short stay. I got chills watching the movie about kiwi. The mother kiwi lays the largest eggs proportional to body size of any bird.  You gotta cheer for her. She lays two eggs per nesting. Kiwis lack sharp beaks, so pecking through the shell is another travail facing the kiwi family. It can take the infant up to four days to emerge. After that struggle, 95% of the babies are eaten by predators before they are old enough to protect themselves. Kiwis are now highly endangered. Conservationists remove one egg from the nest of each kiwi nesting at the zoo, and incubate it separately until a chick hatches. Stealing an egg sounds like a heartless way to treat a mother kiwi that already faces an uphill battle to raise her family, but she apparently doesn’t notice the theft so long as she has a remaining egg. The hatched chick from this kidnapped egg is kept in captivity until old enough to fend for itself in the wild. With this nurturing start it stands a good chance of survival.

Stripes Make the Lemurs Look Like Bandits 

After the informative film we tiptoed into a nocturnal house amid signs warning us to be very quiet. After our eyes adjusted to the dimness, we saw three kiwis and heard them call out to one another. More goose bumps, and another vacation highlight. After standing for half an hour watching these amazing birds, we finally tore ourselves away.
 
The rest of the zoo remains a bit of a blur. Since we had already spent a day at the Cairns Tropical Zoo we fairly sped past the kangaroos, elephants, lemurs, tigers, giraffes and wallabies. Even the interactive kid zone and the tropical rain forest got only a couple of minutes each. We didn’t do justice to this worthwhile zoo, but the resounding lament of this trip has been too much to do and too little time to do it.
 
Next stop:  The War Memorial Museum. The name may be as confusing as finding your way to the museum or between exhibits once you get there. In spite of that, you must make time during an Auckland visit for this treasure.  If “War Memorial” brings to mind visions of guns, tanks, and military history, be assured this museum is much more than its military history collection. War Memorial Museum is considered by some tour directors to be such a misnomer that they refer to it simply as the Auckland Museum, or the Auckland Domain Museum.   
 
By whatever name, it was New Zealand’s first museum, begun in 1852 in a two-room farm house in an Auckland suburb.  It has morphed into a three story museum in a lovely heritage building. It now showcases millions of objects that tell the story of New Zealand and its people. It offers one of the largest exhibits of Polynesian/Micronesian/Maori artifacts in the world.

Inside a Maori Meeting Place

The first floor of the museum displays one of the last Maori war canoes, intricately carved, and capable of carrying 100 people. In addition to this monstrous canoe, there are several regular sized Polynesian and Micronesian canoes hung from the ceiling. You can also peruse household goods, clothing, weapons, and enter a full size Maori meeting house.
 
We purchased tickets for a Maori Cultural Experience, an entertaining glimpse of Maori culture including a presentation of their most celebrated dance, the haka. The friendly performers hung around after the show so we had the opportunity to talk with them as they patiently posed for photos.  I got my picture snapped next to two handsome Maori men and Bob got his taken with a lovely Maori woman. That surely justified the price of admission. We were barely ashamed of being such cliché and corny tourists.  We may never have the chance to do that again.

Maori Dance at the Maori Cultural Experience

Bob with a Maori Dancer

After the show we roamed the remaining exhibits.  We watched a short film about Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to reach the peak of Mt. Everest and saw his actual ice axe. I enjoyed the re-creation of a 19th century town and the realistic exhibit of New Zealanders fighting in the trenches of World War I.  Another of my favorite exhibits was the life size model of the extinct giant moa. This flightless bird (without even the vestiges of wings) was once native to New Zealand.
  
With lunch and browsing the gift shop, the Museum is an easy place to spend the better part of a day.

Julie Albrecht Royce, Travel Adventures Editor, is the author of Traveling Michigan's Sunset Coast and Traveling Michigan's Thumb, both published by Thunder Bay Press. She writes a monthly column for Wandering Educators.

All photos courtesy and copyright of Bob and Julie Royce.