New Zealand Maritime Museum

Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa sits on the Viaduct Harbour and covers the whole span of how people reached and used this coast: Pacific voyaging waka and the navigation that found New Zealand without instruments, the European immigrant passage with a recreated ship's interior that rolls underfoot, coastal trading scows, the kauri boatbuilding tradition, and the America's Cup boats - New Zealand's Cup history is a national preoccupation and the museum treats it accordingly. What lifts it above a gallery visit is the fleet: the museum operates heritage vessels including the scow Ted Ashby and other craft, and sails them on the harbour with visitors aboard on a regular schedule, weather permitting. Those sailings are ticketed separately and are the part people remember. The location on the Viaduct puts it among the bars and the superyachts, which is its own commentary.

History

The idea came from members of the Auckland Maritime Society, founded in 1958, and the Auckland Maritime Museum was set up as a charitable trust in November 1981. Plans for Hobson Wharf were announced in February 1989, the museum opened in August 1993, and an extension of 2009 holds NZL 32, Black Magic, the yacht that won the America's Cup in 1995 (Wikipedia, New Zealand Maritime Museum).

What to look for

• The voyaging section - Pacific waka and instrument-free navigation.
• The immigrant passage - a recreated ship's interior that moves.
• The America's Cup boats - the national obsession, documented.
• The heritage sailings - going out on the harbour on the museum's own vessels.

When to go

Any season - it is indoors. Heritage sailings run on a schedule and are weather-dependent; book if that is the reason for the visit.

What to expect

Ticketed, with sailings extra. Sailings cancel in bad weather. The waterfront location is busy and parking is expensive - walk or take the train to Britomart.

Nearby

Viaduct Harbour and the Wynyard Quarter are alongside; the Sky Tower is a short walk uphill.

Key facts