Journey Through Time

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Auckland Museum Origins

Upon entering the Origins Gallery, you might think that you've entered "Jurasic Park" and rightly so as you are greeted by lifesized replica skeletons of the four-metre tall cryolophosaurus and malawisaurus along with a flying pteranodon soaring through the air above the gallery.

Origins tells the story of the beginnings of the land and the origins of its plants and animals.
Many rare and unusual prehistoric objects are displayed, including a huge tooth from the largest shark that ever lived.  If your kids are into dinosaurs, they will love this gallery.

Additional photos can be found on our Australia & New Zealand Shutterfly page


Auckland Museum



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Maori History Auckland Museum

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Māori Galleries 

Auckland Museum protects and cares for an outstanding and significant collection of more than 1000 Māori treasures (taonga). He Taonga Māori (Māori Court) and Te Ao Tūroa (Māori Natural History Gallery) are the main Māori galleries housing these treasures. There are many more held in storage.

There are a number of original full-size buildings in this gallery including Hotunui, the meeting house that was originally a wedding gift from Ngāti Awa in the eastern Bay of Plenty to Ngāti Maru in Thames. Te Toki ā Tāpiri, the last great war canoe used in battle and carved from a giant totara tree, takes pride of place. These are surrounded by a host of everyday objects once used for living, hunting and fishing to provide a holistic presentation of Māori life in Aotearoa before the arrival of the Pākehā.

Did you notice the carvings above have tongues sticking out?  I wondered why that was.

Traditionally it is meant to welcome visitors, but also to demonstrate their power and readiness to fight should the visitors decide to attack.

Te Ao Tūroa or the Māori natural history gallery, provides visitors with an opportunity for learning something about Māori knowledge and understanding of what is referred to by others as the natural world.

We spent 1.5 hours exploring the Māori exhibits at the Auckland Museum.  Since we were on a ship excursion, our time was limited.  To get a complete understanding of this culture would require much more time at the museum.   Fortunately, we captured many images during our visit which have more details about the people and their culture.  If you'd like to learn more we suggest visiting the museum's website as well as the Maori Source website.

Additional photos can be found on our Australia & New Zealand Shutterfly page

Auckland City Drive
Auckland Museum



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National Anthem Day

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O say can you see, by the dawns early light, a large red, white and blue banner? 

Whose broad stripes and bright stars . . . were so gallantly streaming! over the star-shaped Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore, September 13-14, 1814. The valiant defense of the fort inspired Francis Scott Key to write The Star-Spangled Banner.

We had the opportunity to visit Fort McHenry during our post cruise stay in Baltimore, MD after one of our conferences.

view our Fort McHenry photo album for more pictures

The flag pictured above was flown over the fort.   We were fortunate to be there for the lowering of the flag and raising of a much smaller flag that would fly through the evening hours.

Click here for the story behind the Star-Spangled Banner origin. The original Star-Spangled Banner, the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the song that would become our national anthem, is among the most treasured artifacts in the collections of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

Why not take your family on a cruise out of Baltimore, extend your stay, and visit Fort McHenry and the National Museum of American History to bring history to life.  You can read about the flag and the Star-Spangled Banner in text books or the internet, but seeing the actual flag and the fort where the national anthem was created will be an experience to treasure for a life time.

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Michael Joseph Savage Memorial

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High On a Hill - Auckland

Included in our LOCAL CONNECTIONS: CITY DRIVE & AUCKLAND MUSEUM tour was a stop at the Michael Joseph Savage Memorial which is high on a hill over Tamaki Drive.

Formal gardens, a sunken pond and graceful obelisk commemorate the resting place of one of New Zealand’s most beloved prime ministers, await visitors to this memorial. It also offers views over Auckland city, its harbour and the Hauraki Gulf.

It was a gorgeous day in Auckland when we visited this past January.  The skies were painted in shades of blue with streaks of white clouds.  The eyes were drawn to the shadow in the reflecting pool in front of the obelisk.

Michael Joseph Savage was New Zealand’s popular prime minister from the Labour party, who established social welfare back in the 1930's. These grounds surround his grave inside a historic gun bunker.  View the Auckland City Drive photo album for more images.   Our coach headed to the Auckland Museum after our visit here.

Additional photos can be found on our Australia & New Zealand Shutterfly page

Auckland City Drive
Auckland Museum



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