Top Five Museums in New Zealand
Visit museums wherever you go, if you wish to understand what makes New Zealand tick.
Discovering the why, where, how and who in almost any town or city just adds an additional layer to your travel experience. New Zealand’s major museums their very own specialties, Otago Museum in Dunedin City takes an in-depth consider the natural and social good reputation for the South Island; Auckland Museum is renowned for an impressive collection of Maori and Polynesian artifacts; Canterbury Museum includes a strong focus on Antarctica; Te Papa in Wellington City provides a very modern, and often interactive, chance to learn.
Best Museums in New Zealand
1. Air Force Museum
45 Harvard Ave, Wigram, Christchurch
Unrivaled in New Zealand, this excellent family attraction vividy brings to life the rich good reputation for the Royal New Zealand Air Force. People to the museum will encounter over 28 beautifully restored aircraft and then test their skill in a number of fully interacitive cookpit simulators.
The ‘Wartime Family’ exhibition, set inside a 1940s style house, allows people to experience life ‘ around the home front’ and discover the stories of these families waiting to hear from thier family members overseas.
2. Pataka Museum and Gallery
Cnr Norrie and Parumoana, Porirua, Wellington
A museum and gallery only 15 minutes north of Wellington, Pataka is devoted to celebrating our heritage & specialises in showcasing Maori, Pacific Island, New Zealand, Asian and international contemporary art & culture. Have a coffee at the cafe while relaxing beside our Japanese garden. Be inspired, excite your creativity or let us tempt you having a gift from our shop.
Pataka Museum of Arts and Cultures, that has become the cultural heart of Porirua City, opened in 1998. Within the 12 years since then the museum and gallery has created a reputation for showcasing the best in Maori, Pacific Island, New Zealand, Asian and international contemporary art & culture.
Pataka has five main galleries with more than 14 major exhibitions every year, featuring work from local, national and international artists in addition to a range of heritage and social history exhibitions. The Pataka complex also houses the Porirua City Library, Café Kaizen along with a traditional Japanese garden, while Te Rauparaha Arena houses
the Aquatic swimming facility that is within the same cultural precinct.
3. National Transport & Toy Museum – Lake Wanaka
State Highway 6, Lake Wanaka
New Zealand’s National Transport & Toy Museum may be the result of one man’s dream and Half a century of collecting and preserving pieces in the past. The transport collection boasts rare and weird aircraft, cars, trucks, motorcycles, fire appliances, military vehicles and tractors.
Museums in New Zealand
This fascinating collection houses among the largest private collections on the planet. A nostalgic selection of toys has something to fascinate the kid in everyone, such as clockwork and battery powered toys, porcelain dolls, teddies, pedal cars and money boxes.
The Museum offers outdoor and indoor playing areas with pedal tractors and trucks for the children. The Museum shop has a large number of models and gifts. Light refreshments can also be found.
4. Whanganui Regional Museum
The Whanganui Regional Museum, founded in 1892, comes with an extensive collection of natural and history with a regional emphasis. It houses objects of both national and international significance. The Museum’s rich collections are preserved within the belief that our future is going to be enriched through a greater knowledge of our past.
Experience and revel in our exciting programme of long-term and changing exhibitions once we share the stories of Whanganui and our devote the world.
5. The Kauri Museum
5 Church Road, RD1, Matakohe, Northland
Nestled within the picturesque west coast village of Matakohe, Northland, The Kauri Museum is among New Zealand’s most amazing theme museums. As among the best places to visit in Northland, The Kauri Museum is the best insight into Northland’s pioneer past.
Visit our heritage museum on the way to the ancient kauri trees in the Waipoua Forest. Approximately 90,000 people visit our internationally acclaimed Northland heritage museum each year.
The award winning The Kauri Museum, Matakohe tells the fascinating story from the pioneering days through the use of kauri timber and kauri gum. Explore the numerous exceptional displays and galleries within the museum, from our magnificent assortment of antique kauri furniture and the largest assortment of kauri gum in the world, to restored machinery, including NZ’s earliest tractor, a 1929 Cat 60, along with a turning steam sawmill. As one of Northland’s best attractions, you’ll be able to view a two storey life-sized replica Boarding House, an innovator School and the historic Matakohe Mailbox with a fantastic collection of telephones.