Day 5 - January 26

As we woke up this morning we decided that today is the day we want to focus on historical and monumental places within Auckland. We felt that it would be beneficial to learn some things about the history and culture of New Zealand while we're here. So what better place to go than the Auckland War Memorial Museum (history). It was extremely convenient because it was only a 15 minute ride from the hotel. Rachel drove us to the museum, though we're all still adjusting to the new rules of the road here in New Zealand. Our short 15 minute drive almost ended in a tragic accident because Rachel wasn't fully paying attention to the road, luckily we didn't crash into the oncoming traffic but we were all a little shocked. John. Rachel, Jill, Jackson and I (Alyssa) arrived to the war museum and entered the beautiful building. The stone pillars rise tall, holding the top of the building up above of us. The whole area is just magnificent. We chose the more expensive ticket option because then we will to see the Maori Cultural performance(culture) after we were done exploring the museum. As we walked down the endless rooms filled with beautiful artwork and sculptures we learned and discussed with the workers about every exhibit that interested us. We were all a bit bummed when we reached the end of the museum but we were all ecstatic for the Maori Cultural performance that was next to come. This was a wonderful addition to the day and we all immensely enjoyed watching the cultural performance that is home to New Zealand.
When we visited the Great War for New Zealand section, we learned many different things about New Zealand's military back in the day.

• New Zealand soldiers began referring to themselves as "Kiwis". It is said that it's because New Zealanders had a sense of separate identity.

• Around 18,000 New Zealanders died because of the war.

• The names of those who died are recorded on approximately 500 civic war memories all across New Zealand.

We headed to the Cornwall Park cafe within the Cornwall park district. They have a great dinner selection for all of us and we ate around 6 PM. Driving home at night was so pretty.The Sky way illuminated by a beautiful moon, and we talked all the way home. We got to the Royal Park Lodge and stayed up and watched movies on Netflix. It was around 12 AM when we all went back to our own rooms, and I was out the minute my head hit the comfortable pillows.