Maritime Museum


	Along the harbour from the Ferry Terminal is the Voyager Maritime Museum. It consists of a series of galleries covering the maritime history of New Zealand from the first Polynesian explorers to the America's Cup.


	As you walk along the harbour area you can’t miss this “sign” that there is a museum there.


	The museum has a number of vessels that are displayed outside, some are static like this one.


	While others are afloat.


	The walkway along the outside of the museum building displays a variety of craft.


	There is everything from Canoes to Power Boats.


	The galleries inside the building contain a wide variety of exhibits as these photographs show.

This is the large white vessel shown on the right in the above photograph viewed from the bow.

It is so large that it is impossible to properly photograph (parts of it disappear under or behind other items).

The photograph below was taken from a walkway on the upper floor and shows most of this amazing vessel (the bow is under another walkway).


	The next section of the museum looks at the coastal trade and as well as a variety of artefacts and examples of the items traded there is a complete coastal sailing ship.


	Another gallery is given over to Whaling including this creation of a typical camp.


	Among the items preserved is this, the wheelhouse of Takapuna, a former Devonport Steam Ferry.


	The last gallery on the ground floor (and continued above) is dedicated to Sir Peter Blake and contains a number of boats he was associated with and a variety of other artefacts. Pride of place goes to the America’s Cup winning Black Magic.


	The galleries then continue back towards the entrance on the upper level and contain a wide variety of items.


	One that caught my eye is the wheel of HMS Calliope. She was famous for what was called "one of the most famous episodes of seamanship in the 19th century". HMS Calliope was the only vessel present that avoided being sunk or stranded in the tropical cyclone that struck Apia, Samoa in 1889.


	There is also an exhibition relating to safety at se including lighthouses and there is this example of a Life Saving Service Boat on display.


	The final gallery is entitled “Kiwis and the Coast” which looks at a variety of aspects of New Zealands relationship with the sea.

There is this example of a “Jetboat” which used the first successful waterjet propulsion unit developed by by Sir William Hamilton in 1954. The waterjet was ideal for use in the shallow rivers of New Zealand as it overcame the problem of propellers striking rocks.

The trailer suspends the boat from the top frame to simplify recovery,


	The gallery also contains a recreation of a typical 1950s beach bach and the beach shop that would support the visitors. The term “bach” was originally short for bachelor pad, but in reality they often tended to be a family holiday home. They were constructed out of whatever materials came to hand, painted with surplus paint and furnished with what was available.






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