Day 17. Whirlwind to MOTAT (Museum of Transport and Technology)

Day 17. Whirlwind to MOTAT (Museum of Transport and Technology)

Today I was unsure what the weather was actually going to do as it looked sunny outside my window, but with any weather it could change and it changed during the day though little showers that didn’t stop me at all. It was chilly though and I didn’t mind that at all and I actually wore a jumper all day, which I found to be comfortable though I had to take off my sunnies at one stage as I found the museum to be a little dark.

The day started off pretty well and my roomie hadn’t come back after getting annoyed at having a male in the room and I wasn’t worried by that at all. It only got annoying when she insisted that I leave, but I was backed up by the reception as I wasn’t going to play her game or room tango as that is exactly what would happen. I think she will warm up to me, but who knows. I am not going to dwell on something like that and it has added spice to my trip. All I know is she took her bedding and never returned until I got back from my wonderful day out.

I left pretty early compared to my going to be around 2am, but that was because I was sorting things out and had gone to see the show Wicked. I did get chatting to some random guy who turns out be one of the ushers and he has seen the show quite a few times while he has been working. I manage to have an uninterrupted breakfast before I went to find the bus that would take me to MOTAT. It was a pretty quick ride in the morning and I think around 20 mins. I think an interesting area called Grey something had a park of artworks that caught my eye though next time I will have to stop there. I had to wait for around an hour before MOTAT opened, but I was able to wander around Western Springs Park.

The park at one point in time was the main water supply for Auckland until the city out grew that is now a park with MOTAT and the zoo close to each other and joined by a tram, which takes you to MOTAT 2, which is the plane hanger. The park was converted to parkland at a later day though I cant remember when. To the Maori it was good for finding the eel and many birds visit especially the rare ducks that are not local and don’t breed at the lake. I found it interesting several barbies were actually fenced in. Just the barbie and nothing else and had gates too. Could be to stop kids and never seen this before. It is a really nice park to just walk around the lake on a very nice day and the sun did stay out for a bit longer. By the time I had wandered most of the park it was time for me to head over to MOTAT. There was a small line up when I walked to the front of the building, which was the shop.

Once inside I spent several hours wandering around the displays especially when they had horses dragging a cart for the tourists and being holidays too. I even sat and watched a Punch and Judy show, which was basically for kids, but I did enjoy it I was interested in the firefighting equipment especially the medals and I should do more research in those especially when a family member was involved. I didn’t know that Edmund Hillary had a big involvement in regards to Antarctic exploration especially when writing down rules like loading vehicles on last so they would be first off the ship instead of being stuck in the middle of the hold and to drag equipment off the sea ice as they had experienced at one stage after a storm. He even designed some sort of bunk bed so everyone would have space. Although the Massy Ferguson tractors did become a reliable machine down there too. I am surprised no one else came up with these list of rules and everyone listened to Ed. The home front during the war was interesting as conscientious objectors to the war were basically imprisoned including those against war in general through religion. There were fighting between the Maori and Americans. Displays about the different vehicles and what they were used for and includes push bikes too as they had changed through time. Some of the stuff I had seen were from what I had found in other museums like the trainlines though I did like the trams and som even had honesty boxes.

Once I had lunch I went over by tram to the aircraft hanger known as MOTAT 2. It was full of aircraft I had never seen before although I fell in love with the flying boat that the museum is slowly restoring. I like it better than the Lancaster they have at the front of the museum. I did see some ignorant tourists not paying attention to their kids especially when one child began climbing onto one of the aircraft. The parents panicked only when one of them was crying and another had climbed up onto one of the planes. Yet they allowed them to go through the barricade. I did see plenty of information about the planes and I found the way out back as well that I had wondered about on my map. Turns out not many people realise there is a back to the hanger and I did see another plane being sand blasted I think. That or being painted as it was partially covered up. On special days they do have trains running and military vehicles. I think the two aircraft sitting outside are waiting to be restored and put inside somewhere, but I could be wrong.

The time had come for me to leave and head back into the city. Luckily I knew the bus would be marked downtown as last time it confused me. I got a little reprimand from the driver as I had signalled a little too late and that he was running late himself. He was expecting the call for him to become drop offs only. The call came across only several minutes after I had sat down and he did say I should consider myself lucky. Everyone seems to think I am local, which I do find funny. I got off near sky tower and headed to Victoria Park to see what was interesting down there. The only things I really found was that it was at one stage during the war a rest area for American soldiers like at Western Springs. Also they have a free kindergarten though I am not sure if its still in use. I walked back through to the hostel, which was on the other side of the city in Queens Street. Not a bad walk but getting crispy.

Once I headed to my room I found my roomie had come back and I am not sure if she is really happy that I am back. I don’t care actually as I will be sleeping there and there is nothing she can do about it. She did say hello and I was happy to note that my stuff was still in my room and she hadn’t moved anything out. I think she might have seen the reception or has gotten used to the idea of me being in the room. I found I have my last day booked out as I am going to learn about Oral history interviewing through the Auckland library. They had a spot open and I don’t have a video camera I will see what can happen. I think its cool though and I should learn as I feel that it is a weak point and might show me a little appreciation for oral history with the family tree stuff or even with other things like marine rescue. I did visit an Italian restaurant, where I had eye fillet with truffles and duck liver pate. I did this while washing my clothes ready for the next couple of days.