Saturday 13 January 2018

This little city girl spent a day in the BIG SMOKE!!!

As I am still on holiday and likewise my youngest son we decided to do another road trip, this time our destination was Auckland, a one and a half hour drive on a good day from Hamilton.

I was grateful to have a driver as Auckland is our biggest city in NZ and bloody busy.  Not sure I am ready for Motorway driving!!  With the help of google maps on my phone we made our way to the city centre and parked in an underground car park right below our first destination.

Up out of the car park to the Aotea Square, what a vibrant place it was too, and the weather was stunning.

In the Aotea Centre The Art of Banksy exhibition was on and for the $37.50 per person I thought it was worth every bit of the entrance price. You were allowed to take photos as long as you didn't use your flash.  So here we go!!














It was bloody awesome, so if you cannot get to this you sort of just have, with me. You are most welcome!!

We decided to go for a bit of a wander like tourists in our own country once again. We passed a very cool community garden and an old Church, both I thought were very cool.  
 
Destination number two was The Sky Tower.  All 328 metres (1076 feet) of it just beckoning us to go up.

OMG!!!  The worst part was waiting in the que to  purchase tickets for the lift ($29 each).  I am so glad I went up, fricken amazing, even the lift with the glass bit in the floor, no I didn't look down, but I did look out the glass door as we literally whizzed up past the buildings at a super fast pace.

It took just over two years to build and cost $85million to construct!!  The views were spectacular.  I think I would like to go back again early evening and watch Auckland light up.

From there we headed back to the car and again with the help of google we made our way through the busy streets to The Auckland Domain to go to the Auckland War Memorial Museum on one of the many hills.  As NZ residents our entrance price was a donation.  I have not been here since a high school art trip - yeah that long ago!!  This Neo Classical building was opened in November 1929 and cost 250 pounds to build.

Three floors of amazing permanent displays and special exhibitions that you could easily spend an entire day mooching about taking is all in.  We didn't have an entire day but we saw most of it.  Such a gorgeous building inside.
 
Loads of interesting and thought provoking and emotional War History.
Natural and NZ History.

The most amazing Crown Lynn Display
gorgeous old furniture and clothing.



A massive collection of Maori artifacts in a long space with a gorgeous ceiling.
Vintage toys and household things and of course dear old Rahja the Elephant.  In 1936 amid fears he was becoming more dangerous (untamed at the Auckland Zoo) he was executed by a zoo keeper.  It took over 7 months to have him stuffed and then he went on exhibit at the Museum.  I remember seeing him as a small child and being so fascinated.


From the Museum we went to check out The Winter Gardens also in The  Domain.  Construction on the two large glass houses started in1916 and they were opened in 1928.

The last time I visited these I was a young girl so it was nice to return as an adult and appreciate it all.






Then it was time to find the motorway and head south back to Hamilton.  We had a fabulous time in Auckland with me ticking off a few more Tourist destinations on my 'Playing Tourist in my own Country' list.


13 comments:

Nancy J said...

I remember the butterfly exhibit in a glass topped cabinet, and the Winter Gardens. When I was a child,my Mum took a friend and myself into Auckland each school holiday, walk 1.5 miles on a metal road, a bus, 30 minutes or so, the train, another 40 minutes, then the tram to Hobson street, tea and sandwiches at the Farmers, then off to Khyber Pass, some roller skating, then the museum. You had a super summer day for your trip. How it all changes over the years!!!

Polyester Princess said...

Thank you for taking me along to Auckland. It looks quite a nice city, I must say. I could have wandered forever in that museum and the Winter Gardens seem like a wonderful place to unwind. We had The Art of Banksy exhibition here in Antwerp as well, and I agree it's well worth every penny. xxx

Fiona said...

Thank you for your lovely tour of Auckland Sue. Isn't it funny that you thought it was bloody busy and I thought the complete opposite. Try a day out in London!
Banksy's art is fabulous and the natural history museum looks fascinating. You certainly packed a lot in. x

Kiwionholidays said...

You did an awesome trip back down memory lane for us who are away atm.
Thanks a lot, the commentary was fabulous felt like we were there!!

Neat that you and your son Did it together AND they are gr8 drivers in unfamiliar new roads etc

Each of the pics tell a story and so happy that you are kind enough to share!!

Julie said...

Hi Sue, What an awesome day you had & packed so much into it. It really is an amazing city. I have sent you post to my son so he can drool over the Banksy exhibition.

Leeanne said...

I'm always a bit put off being a tourist in Auckland.....so busy are the roads! But I love Auckland Museum I haven't been up the Sky tower. The jug went cold BTW!

Bibi Maizoon said...

Wow! What a fun trip! Love the Banksy exhibit. Auckland looks gorgeous.
Thank you for taking us with!

chris. said...

wow awesome art from that Bansky fellow, thanks Sue. Great views of the city from Sky Tower, there is the Eureka Sky deck over here in Melbourne, it slides out from the building and the floor is glass to, hubby wont have a bar of it, and it isn't as tall as the sky tower I don't think, so wouldn't have a hope of getting him on there if we ever came over for a holiday :-)
Still remember our trip to the museum in primary school, always an fabulous place to visit no matter what your age. Thanks for being a fabulous tour guide. Chris xoxo

Beth Waltz said...

Not a fan of street-art "realism" -- but I could wander the museum for hours! What a marvelous collection of clothing, especially the fur coat.

Goody said...

Thank you for the tour! You made it out of the museum without snagging one of the fab frocks (I would have been tempted)!
How much to ride the lift in the tower?! Holy moley, they're recouping the costs one ride at a time ;)

kiwikid said...

What a fantastic day out, thank you for taking us along, great to see the Banksy exhibition, there was some of his work in Melbiurne but the council painted it out I have been told. Love the Sky Tower, took me 20 mins to stand on the glass panel and look at the ground. The museum and gardens look beautiful, hope to get there one visit.

sallyhicks said...

That was fabulous Sue. Thank you for such an effort. No chance I would get up there. Xxx

Mim said...

Aaah, Auckland looks amazing. New Zealand is on my list of places I want to visit, and you're not making it any easier to wait! So many great things to see and do, and the city looks so lovely.

Bristol's fairly close to where I live - it's Banksy's home ground, and graffiti art is really common in the city, though not so much Banksy nowadays. Quite an anarchic-artistic place. I really like it.