War Musuem

Auckland has a beautiful park (that i am sure is on a volcano because everything in this country is one), that sits in the middle of the city. Perched on top of the hill is a large stone museum that resembles the Lincoln Memorial a bit (tall pillars, white marble, steps in front).

The Museum actually houses several floors that include natural history, Maori cultural history and of course, a floor on the wars that New Zealand has participated in.

The Maori floor had a large Marae (temple / meeting house), war canoe and many other artifacts that ranged from jewelry and clothing to bowls and weapons.

The natural history floor contained a stuffed Moa that was over 9 feet tall (have you ever seen a Moa? They were large wingless birds that are now extinct), kiwi, sharks and about 1,000 loud screaming kids.

The final floor and the most impressive by far was the War Memorial. Starting with the original New Zealand war between the Maori and the Europeans and working through the World Wars, African War, Turkey, Vietnam and Korean. What was most interesting the learn was the high percentage of New Zealand citizens who served in the world wars - higher than any other country. The memorials were similar to the Vietnam Wall, listing the names of those who had been killed in war. It was a beautiful and very informative museum.