MOTAT

Excellent museum one can reach by bus from the centre of Auckland. Wood paneled trams to ride over to the aviation section with many vintage aircraft including some of the majestic flying boats. Funny to see the Dakota and Dragon Rapide that I’ve flown on in previous years in the UK on pleasure flights. Some vintage Air New Zealand bags and model aircraft to buy in this hangar.
Silly rules about not being able to smoke on site. Richard and I had a quiet fag and made sure we put our butts in the bin anyway.
Friendly staff on board the tram. Some interactive exhibits to do with noise and image in one of the sheds. Also some information on migrants to New Zealand in the 20^th century especially the Poms.
Retro buses adorn the main area and there is a café. Ridiculous one cannot smoke on the café balcony. There are some lovely restored old houses and a kirk (church) in one section with lovely green lawn to walk on. I enjoyed this museum and was interested to learn that Air New Zealand used to be called National Airways corporation until 1978.

More emphasis on the transportation than technology for sure. Definitely a niche museum and probably not for everyone. If you like vintage trains, planes & automobiles or have easily amused children then it’s probably worth a visit (lots of interactive kids stuff.) There were more ghosts haunting the exhibits than people on the day I visited — not even any tour guides.
I found the exhibit on Ed Hillary’s Arctic Expedition most interesting. Then the telecommunications exhibit slightly engaging.
Ok I lied. The thing I actually found most intriguing was the fully functioning and free to play Apollo 13 themed pinball machine. It was bittersweet because it’s been forever and a day since I last played pinball but then again I was like «Holy crap — I’m old enough for things from my childhood to be in a museum.» :/​
And it’s a cruel, cruel joke that a museum supposedly specializing in technology doesn’t have wifi anywhere on the premises.
More like a meh-​seum, for me anyways.

MOTAT has been around for a verrrryyyy long time. I have fond memories of school trips here, and then later in life of school holiday work here. I respect what it’s trying to do, bur I just don’t rate it. I feel kind of bad about this because it’s like an old friend and I feel like i’m talking behind it’s back. It just has no character. The premise is too big, which leaves it feeling slightly empty, and the days I’ve driven past lately it looks like a ghost town.
There are fun things like the mirror maze and another dark jungle gym thing, but that it where most of the fun is to be had.
I’m sure as a 24 year old i’m not their target market, but I also think there are cooler places to take kids. The museum for example.
I don’t know, maybe I’m missing something. I’m sorry MOTAT.

Aside from from a few hours of Social Studies class per week when I was 14, there was never much of a focus on New Zealand history in my school’s mandatory curriculum. A great deal of historical references in modern pop culture actually deal with the history of other countries, America/​England/​Europe. Exploring old forms of transport and the environments in which such technology existed, really opened my eyes to some of New Zealand’s bygone eras. They have an exhibition featuring one of the trams which used to operate on Queen Street in the 1950’s, I wonder if they would have thought twice about getting rid of the old tram system if they could have seen the traffic grid lock of present day.

I always had such fond memories of MOTAT from when I was a kid. Sure, some of the exhibitions are now getting a little old and worn and it could do with a bit of a revamp but overall I think this place is awesome! And it’s nice to know that it transcends generations. I took my 6 year old nephew here the other day and he LOVED it. Especially the interactive room and the tram. Not only that, the staff are amazing. We got to ride in the horse carriage, my nephew got a turn on the giant Penny Farthing and the blacksmith was kind enough to run out after us when we were leaving to show us the tongs he had finished making. That’s what makes MOTAT great for me. the staff.

I hadn’t been to MOTAT since the time I got stuck in the mirror maze for half an hour and my mum had to come find me crying, surrounded by the same image repeated again and again cruelly taunting me. However, when I found out they do a whole month free for Aucklanders who can prove they live there, I decided to face the site of my worst hour.
Motat now has a lessened effect on me. Its like when you download zoombinis trying to recreate those years in primary school, only for the graphics to let you down and the slow realisation your problem solving skills may actually have got worse since year 9. Im sure if you were taking young children, they would have a blast. And there is a lot of actually interesting stuff in there, particularly the old trains and the model railway.
I recommend, if you plan on going during the free month, to go on a weekday. Weekends, this place seems to go full steam.

The one thing I enjoyed about Motat was the room with all the funky mirrors and bizarre games. I had an outrageous time on the spinny thing — I did not expect it to go so fast! I think the point of it was to prove something about speed or gravity but I don’t know I was too busy freaking out as I whirled round and round. Other than this room, the rest was a little disappointing for me. I don’t know what I expected but this didn’t quite live up. Having said this though I am a 21-​year-​old girl. Take anyone under 15, or over 50 and I’m sure they will be amazed. My dad certainly loves gawping at all the planes on show. And my nephew sure did enjoy it all too. Especially the tanks — which you get to have a ride in if you’re there at the right time! And the train — which I thought was cool but went pretty slow! Overall I wouldn’t go again in a hurry but I am glad I made the trip to experience it all at least once!

I want to give Motat ten stars. The fact that I can’t is doing the place a bloody disservice. Motat is everything good in the world. Motat has a mirror maze and a ‘tactile dome’. Motat has old steam engines and a little room filled with a tragically quaint model railway. Motat has a café. Motat has a collection of decommissioned police vehicles from throughout the hallowed annals of Aotearoa New Zealand’s history. Every room in Motat need a fresh paint job and an interrior design overhaul. Nothing at Motat is even remotely interesting and everything at Motat is the best thing is whole entire history of the world.
I heard a great quote about Motat: «It’s like a museum of what museums were like in the 70s.» Man I love Motat.