We arrived in New Zealand on Wednesday and walked around the downtown area. It has a number of older heritage buildings including shopping arcades. Melissa tried some green mussels for dinner.
This morning we visited the Auckland Museum. It has a varied collection of items including Maori artifacts and more contemporary items including the ice axe used by Edmund Hillary to climb Mount Everest for the first time.
Many of the Maori items on display were carved from wood and included boats, meeting houses, walking sticks, and puppets. The carving work and detail are impressive.
On display were many jade items including a piece made of a rare form of jade that appears speckled or flecked with fish scales. The jade is all from New Zealand.
There were also some mauri stones on display. All living things have a "mauri" or resting place of the life force. Mauri stones representing this life force were placed in gardens and on boats.
Other exhibits included items from the natural world including kiwi birds.
The top floor of the museum is a war memorial. On exhibit was a captured Japanese Zero and its kamikaze pilot's flying gear.
In the afternoon Melissa visited the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki.
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