MOTAT (Museum of Transport and Technology)

Inspiring and comprehensive story of New Zealand's transport, social and technological history, incorporating a state-of-the-art Aviation Hall and plenty of interactivity for all the family.

The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) was established nearly 60 years ago in the Western Springs area of Auckland, around the old Pumphouse and its impressive Beam Engine. Here you'll find everything from early trams, trains, cars, buses, and emergency service vehicles, and you can also explore a recreation of an old colonial village, with quaint little shops and a blacksmith's forge. Plus, check out the Aviation Hall, with the largest collection of aircraft in Australasia.

With a brand new carpark right outside the Aviation Hall (located on Motions Road), it has never been easier to visit MOTAT. First opened in 2011, the hall houses a unique collection of aircraft from the Royal New Zealand Air Force, together with a variety of attractive civil planes.

The military section will take you back in time to World War II, with its restored trucks and tanks, whilst the 1km working railway shows off a range of wagons and locomotives.  One of the highlights of the Aviation Hall is the Solent Mark IV Flying Boat (the only one in the world), and don't forget to seek out the majestic Avro Lancaster bomber, and try and imagine the thrill of sitting in the cockpit, awaiting orders to take off into battle.

When you've exhausted the Motions Road site, hop on one of the vintage trams over to Great North Road and check out the rest of the sights.  See how New Zealanders used to live, and track the wealth of technological and social changes in the country's everyday history, from basic equipment like bellows and iron tongs, to early washing machines and blenders.

And in today's social networking-obsessed world, MOTAT gives you an interactive chance to see how previous generations would have communicated, from the earliest semaphore methods to the dawn of the mobile phone.

With a rotation of interactive exhibitions, themed LIVE days, kids discover and play areas and a Steamed café, MOTAT is the perfect place for friends and whānau of all ages to admire the technology of the past, look to the present and inspire the innovators of tomorrow.