Week 565 · Auckland, New Zealand
I've spent 8 days in the North Island of New Zealand — all but two were rainy. Our Auckland stay was spread over two weeks, starting with an unexpected day because we missed our connecting flight.
On a rainy day, we went to the Auckland War Memorial Museum — but it was more than war history. It was the Smithsonian of New Zealand, ranging from volcanoes to Maori culture to protests in the 1970s. The local saying is Kia Ora — informal for hello, from Maori — and is seen everywhere. Back in the 1980s it was illegal for government officials to use the word. Now it is recognised as a motto of the country.
The Maori history in New Zealand is much different from the indigenous history of Australia. In Australia, people walked from Indonesia 50,000 years ago when sea levels were lower, then had no contact with the outside world until the 1700s. The Maori trace their roots to Polynesia, arrived about 800 years ago — not that long before the English and Dutch — and were more advanced than the various indigenous groups in Australia. The Maori had wars against the English in the 1800s and 1900s. Older sections of the museum focused on the military defeat of the Maori by the English. I suspect these sections will be modified over time.
We spent quite a bit of time in Viaduct Harbour — a newly redeveloped area decorated for Christmas — as well as Parnell Village, an older shopping area. But much of the time it was raining and cloudy, so the museum and indoor activities occupied most of our time in Auckland. We tried to time our day trips around the rain.
On our last half-day it was sunny — we drove about 45 minutes to the west coast to Waitakere Ranges Regional Park, which supposedly had "good views." It was absolutely spectacular. We did an hour hike along the cliffs and got a lot of pictures before heading out to the airport.
