The Auckland Art Gallery is one of our favorites. There is no admission for their general collection, but international visitors have an entry fee to see any special exhibits, such as the current “A Century of Modern Art” featuring highlights of the Toledo Museum of Art’s collection. We opted to stay with the free tier, which was plenty.

It’s not a huge museum, but its collections range from a wonderful collection of 19th century Maori portraits, drawings and paintings from the era of Captain Cook, to recent modern interpretations, traveling exhibits, and much more. Oh, and an excellent little cafe.

Here are a few photos to give you an idea of what’s awaiting at the Auckland Art Gallery.

Warning: I can’t figure out how to get these photos in the proper order, so you’ll have to figure it out!

We walked through a number of exhibits, then had lunch. And, after eating, I insisted on going upstairs to see the exhibition of works by New Zealand photographer Mark West, covering some 50 years with a camera.

So we took the elevator up to the 2nd floor and walked through the exhibit of fine photographs. At some point, we walked into an alcove and a series of photos of Samoan Tatao, traditional tattoos.

And half-way down a row of photos, cousin Brad’s wife, Sapi, exclaimed that several family members and friends were feature, including her father, uncle, and at least one cousin. It was a complete surprise to her! I have to get more specifics, but it was one of those once-in-a-million experiences, a regular museum visit suddenly escalated into a family affair!

I think we eventually spent nearly three hours at the museum, including our lunch.

And, after that, we took a little sightseeing drive that offered a number of different Auckland views before we were dropped off back at our hotel.

[I apologize in advance for the disarray in the photos. I just haven’t figure out how to get control of them when writing on my iPad. So it is what it is.]