Here are the directions for getting to the Auckland Domain Museum AND
the Museum of Transportation (MOTAT).

1. Auckland airport is about 25 km outside the city.  There are 2 main
bus services into the city.  There is one that goes only to hotels and
another that goes to 2-3 main hotels AND the downtown air bus terminal.
The air bus terminal bus costs $12 NZ ($6 USA).  I don't know what the
other costs since I did not use that service; I stayed at the Copthorne
HarborCity right next to the air bus terminal.

2. The best way to get to the Auckland Domain Museum is on the United
Airlines Explorer bus.  This bus goes to 14 main attractions in the
Auckland area, including the Auckland Museum.  You can get on the bus
for $20 NZ ($10 USA) and get on/off as many times as you want.
Therefore, going to and back from the museum is just 1 fee.  The
Explorer bus tickets can be purchased on the bus or at many sites around
Auckland, including the air bus terminal.  The best place to catch the
bus is at the Ferry Building across the street and east of the Air Bus
Terminal.  That way you only have about a 20 minute trip to the museum.
You can catch the bus at the Air Bus Terminal; however, it is going the
wrong way at that time so the trip takes a lot longer to get to the
museum.  The bus runs from about 9AM to 4PM.

3. Once you get to the museum, you enter the main foyer and have to make
a decision to enter the left or right wing of the building.  The
entrance fee is $5 NZ ($2.50 USA) unless you want to see the Maori Dance
Show which is $5NZ more ( I recommend it - shows are only at 11:30 AM
and 1:30 PM).  All of the aircraft exhibits are on the 3rd floor.  If
you go up the stairway of the right wing, you will find a Fiesler 103
(V-1) Buzz Bomb hanging at the top of the stairwell.  There is a
Spitfire in a small central room of the right wing.  The aircraft are
VERY DIFFICULT to find, because they are in small central rooms of each
wing with NO SIGNS OUTSIDE of the room.  You have to literally walk into
the room before you will know you have found the aircraft.  The Zero is
in the center of the left wing on the 3rd floor in exactly the same kind
of room.  I guarantee you that you will have trouble finding them the
first time.  Just make sure to look in EVERY doorway and you will
eventually find the aircraft.

3. The lighting in both aircraft exhibits is quite dark in keeping with
museum policy of keeping paint jobs in good shape.

4. To get to MOTAT air exhibits, there are 2 main ways to get there.  I
prefer taking the United Airlines Explorer bus to the Auckland Zoo and
then walking to the air exhibit entrance just north of the Zoo entrance
about 100 meters.  At the main gate, there is not much to see, you have
to walk about another 100 meters down a gravel road to a hanger where
the aircraft are kept.  You will see a MOTAT sign at the front gate and
down the road you can see a Hawker Hurricane displayed on a pillar
outside the aircraft hanger.  Inside the hanger are the Avro Lancaster,
P-40, Fairey Swordfish, Lockheed Electra, V-1 Buzz Bomb, and other
aircraft, including the last flying boat used by Air New Zealand in the
50's.  Out back of the hanger is also a Sunderland Flying Boat that is
not in real good condition.

The other way to get to MOTAT is to get on the #45 Bus in the downtown
area and ask the driver to let you out near MOTAT.  The bus costs $1.20
NZ each way and you get off at the MOTAT museum main entrance.  You do
NOT go in that entrance unless you want to see the old streetcars, etc.
You get on the trolley that goes to the zoo entrance for $1NZ each way.
At the zoo entrance, you walk the 100 meters north to the air hanger
entrance.  I do not remember the entrance fee, because I saw the entire
museum.

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