January 30, 2024 Auckland, New Zealand, Day 41 of 138

 Oh what a beautiful morning, Oh what a beautiful day. I have this wonderful feeling, everything is going my way...We wake up to Auckland, New Zealand.

Today we have another early morning excursion the "Highlights of Auckland". We start out with a drive through downtown, along the coast and to a park like setting memorial to to Michael Joseph Savage Memorial. The site was once the site of a massive fortified village. Michael Joseph Savage was prime minister of New Zealand in the 1930's.

There is a volcano across the water. It last erupted 600 years ago.

Next stop was the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

This was the most surprising find. They had a wall with all who had died in the war from New Zealand. Forth from the bottom is listed H.W. Yeend. This is my Mom's family name. Her family immigrated from England around 1870's. We will have to see if we can track this member of the family. In England the family changed their name from I think Eend to Yeend in preparation to immigrate. 

Above is a spitfire. The museum was very well done. It also included Maori section to preserve their history.

This is an example of a Maori meeting house. The carving on every wood surface was interictally carved.

Below I am before two examples of beautiful dresses with feather shawls.

Above is the ceiling of the upper floor of the Museum. Below is a stain glass from the wall of the Museum.