Dolphin and whale watching
Whale & Dolphin Safari Viaduct Harbour t 0800 397 567, w explorenz.co.nz. There are stacks of common and bottlenose dolphins out in the Hauraki Gulf year-round, often forming huge pods in winter and spring when Bryde’s whale and orca sightings increase. Educational and entertaining trips head out on a fast, 20m ctamaran which also undertakes marine mammal reserach. Dolphins (which are seen on ninety percent of trips) are often located by the cluster of gannets spectacularly dive-bombing schools of fish. If you don’t see any marine mammals you can go again, free, either here on in the Bay of Islands.
Kayaking and kayak fishing
Auckland Sea Kayaks t 0800 999 089, w aucklandseakayaks.co.nz. Great guided kayak tours including an easy paddle over to Browns Island, a longer trip to Rangitoto with a summit hike, a Rangitoto evening/night trip with sunset from the summit and excellent food along the way, and a range of overnight trips including camping on Motuihe Island, where there are Little Spotted kiwi.
Fergs Kayaks 12 Tamaki Drive, Okahu Bay t 09 529 2230, w fergskayaks.co.nz. Offers guided trips 7km across the Waitemata Harbour to Rangitoto Island, hiking to the summit, then paddling back. Alternatively, opt for their 3km paddle to Devonport with a hike up North Head. In both cases, the later departure gives you a chance to paddle by moon or torchlight. Single sea kayaks, doubles, or slightly cheaper sit-on-tops are also available to rent; trips to Rangitoto and Devonport are not generally allowed for rentals.
TIME Unlimited t 0800 868 463, newzealandtours.travel. Gorgeous bays and islands are the focus of these trips. Groups are generally limited to six and (unusually for kayak operators) single kayaks are available. They even run an overnight trip with lots of fishing and camping out. Fishing takes precedence with full-day kayak-fishing tours on which you might expect to catch snapper, kingfish and John Dory, and swim after lunch on a gorgeous beach.
Auckland Bridge Climb and Bungy
Auckland Bridge Climb t 0800 462 5462, w aucklandbridgeclimb.co.nz. Take in the excellent city views from the highest point on the city’s harbour, crossing some 65m above the Waitemata Harbour. There’s no actual climbing involved, just 90min strolling along steel walkways while harnessed to a cable as guides relate detail on the bridge’s fulcrums, pivots and cantilevers. Reservations are essential and anyone over seven can go. Cameras are not allowed but there’ll be someone on hand to take a snap and sell it to you later. Free transport from Viaduct Harbour.
Auckland Bridge Bungy t 0800 462 5462,w bungy.co.nz. The place to go for an adrenaline rush, a 40m leap and a water touch. There’s free transport from Viaduct Harbour and you get the free bragging T-shirt.
Auckland Museum
The imposing Greco-Roman-style Auckland Museum sits at the highest point of the Auckland Domain, and contains the world’s finest collections of Maori and Pacific art and craft. Traditional in its approach yet contemporary in its execution, the museum was built as a World War I memorial in 1929 and has been progressively expanded, most recently in 2006 with the capping of a courtyard with an undulating copper dome. Below the dome, a striking slatted Fijian kauri structure hanging from the ceiling like some upturned beehive dominates the new Auckland Atrium entrance.
At the opposite end of the building, the original colonnaded Grand Foyer entrance is the place to head for the thirty-minute Maori Cultural Performance of frightening eye-rolling challenges, gentle songs and a downright scary haka, all heralded by a conch-blast that echoes through the building.
Maori Court
As traditional Maori villages started to disappear towards the end of the nineteenth century, some of the best examples of carved panels, meeting houses and food stores were rescued and brought here. The central Maori Court is dominated by Hotunui, a large and wonderfully carved meeting house built in 1878, late enough to have a corrugated-iron rather than rush roof. The craftsmanship is superb; the house’s exterior bristles with grotesque faces, lolling tongues and glistening paua-shell eyes, while the interior is lined with wonderful geometric tukutuku panels. Outside is the intricately carved prow and stern-piece of Te Toki a Tapiri, a 25m-long waka taua (war canoe) designed to seat a hundred warriors, the only surviving specimen from the pre-European era.
The transition from purely Polynesian motifs to an identifiably Maori style is exemplified by the fourteenth- or fifteenth-century Kaitaia Carving, a 2.5m-wide totara carving thought to have been designed for a ceremonial gateway, guarded by the central goblin-like figure with sweeping arms that stretch out to become lizard forms: Polynesian in style but Maori in concept.
Pacific Masterpieces
The Pacific Masterpieces room is filled with exquisite Polynesian, Melanesian and Micronesian works. Look out for the shell-inlaid ceremonial food bowl from the Solomon Islands, ceremonial clubs and a wonderfully resonant slit-drum from Vanuatu. The textiles are fabulous too, with designs far more varied than you’d expect considering the limited raw materials: the Hawaiian red feather cloak is especially fine.
Pacific Lifeways
Daily life of Maori and the wider Pacific peoples is covered in the Pacific Lifeways room, which is dominated by a simple yet majestic breadfruit-wood statue from the Caroline Islands depicting Kave, Polynesia’s malevolent and highest-ranked female deity, whose menace is barely hinted at in this serene form.
Middle floor
The middle floor of the museum comprises the natural history galleries, an unusual combination of modern thematic displays and stuffed birds in cases. Displays such as the 3m-high giant moa (an ostrich-like bird) and an 800kg ammonite shouldn’t be missed, but there’s also material on dinosaurs, volcanoes and a Maori Natural History display, which attempts to explain the unique Maori perspective unencumbered by Western scientific thinking. The middle floor is also where you’ll find hands-on and “discovery” areas for kids.
Upper floor
Scars on the Heart occupies the entire upper floor and explores how New Zealanders’ involvement in war has helped shape national identity. The New Zealand Wars of the 1860s are interpreted from both Maori and Pakeha perspectives and World War I gets extensive coverage, particularly the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey, when botched leadership led to a massacre of ANZAC – Australian and New Zealand Army Corps – troops in the trenches. Powerful visuals and rousing martial music accompany newsreel footage of the Pacific campaigns of World War II and Vietnam, with personal accounts of the troops’ experiences and the responses of those back home.