Tourist Attractions in Auckland

Festivals

Over the summer period the city hosts numerous cultural festivals and competitions, if you are in Auckland in march be sure to catch the pacifica festival, an extravaganza of Polynesian song, dance, art and of course no Polynesian festival would be complete with out plenty of interesting cuisine. The city council also put on a number of free live outdoor music concerts featuring some of New Zealand's best artists. Carols by candle light, opera in the park and groove in the park are always worth checking out as is the Grey Lynn festival in November. Music in the park Runs from Jan - Mar.

Auckland War Memorial Museum

Auckland War Memorial Museum has some great information on New Zealand's pre-human and pre-European history. New Zealand was a land of Birds and giant insects until the arrival of man. Many of these species are show cased here including replicas of the giant Moa and Haast Eagle with a wing span of over 3 metres. There's some great information on how the Polynesian navigated their way around the pacific as well as examples of Maori dwellings, storage house, meeting house, and waka (canoes). Auckland museum boasts one of the most comprehensive collections of maori artefacts and taonga (treasures) in the world. There's also a number of daily Kapa Haka (Maori cultural) performances. They are at 11am, noon, 1:30pm, there's an additional summer performance from Jan - March at 2:30pm. It costs $15 for Adults.

Links

Check out the following links:

• Central accomodation for all budgets in the heart of the city: Auckland Central Backpackers

Did you now?

Kelly Tarlton was a great New Zealand underwater explorer and adventurer. A good old fashioned Kiwi do it yourself bloke. He made his own set of scuba equipment after learning about the equipment Jacque Cousteau had developed. Kelly gained a reputation as an adventurous underwater photographer, his diving adventure stories and photographs appeared in magazines worldwide. His greatest task was to build an aquarium to share his passion of the ocean and under sea world. Sadly Kelly Tarlton died of a heart attack the day after welcoming the 100,000'th visitor.