Tuesday, 28 January 2025 - We did not have to board the ship until early afternoon, so we decided to tour the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

australia2025
A neoclassical building constructed in the 1920s and 1950s, stands on Observatory Hill, the remains of a dormant volcano.

Museum collections concentrate on New Zealand history, the history of the Auckland Region, natural history, and military history.
australia2025
We began our tour with displays on the military history of New Zealand.

Beautiful stained-glass windows.
australia2025
A memorial wall to all those New Zealanders killed in WWII.
australia2025
A Maori carving facial markings much like our guide a day ago.
australia2025
Cal using his camera in the museum.
australia2025
Maori statue.
australia2025
Ancient Maori carving.
australia2025
A Maori carving which Virginia Ann liked.
australia2025
Elaborate carvings with tattooed face markings.
australia2025
Maori man and woman with traditional face markings.
australia2025
As we were exiting the last exhibit and headed to the gift shop, the power went off in the entire museum.

Exterior bas-reliefs, carved by Richard Gross (1882-1964) depicting 20th-century armed forces and personnel, are in a style that mixes Neo-Greco with Art Deco.

We walked outside with everyone else and waited but the power did not come on so we walked downhill to the Domain Wintergardens.
australia2025
The Domain Wintergardens were open and displaying many beautiful flowers.
australia2025
Cal and the flowers in one of the greenhouses.
australia2025
The flowers were everywhere.
australia2025
Pretty red flower.
australia2025
Virginia Ann enjoying the gardens.
australia2025
The courtyard between the two giant greenhouses.
australia2025
The Fern area of the gardens.
australia2025
Giant water lilies.
australia2025
Carnivorous pitcher plants reminded us of ours in North Carolina.
australia2025
Virginia Ann stops on the way to the ship to snap a picture of the old Ferry Terminal. Cal is in front about to enter the dock area.
australia2025
The ship pushes back from the dock and we are underway. The Ferry Terminal and the newer ferry docks.
australia2025
Downtown Auckland gets further away.
australia2025
Rangitoto Island on the starboard (right) side of the ship. Our cabin is on this side.
australia2025
On the port (left) side, the city of Auckland can be seen over the North Shore isthmus.


Top
Top