Free entry to Auckland heritage attractions on Waitangi Day

Tourist Auckland heritage attractions, Highwic in Newmarket and Alberton in Mt Albert, will be open free of charge to celebrate Waitangi Day on 6 February – with a special display featuring at Highwic.

The Heritage New Zealand cared-for properties are part of a nationwide celebration of New Zealand’s national day, with 13 other Heritage New Zealand staffed properties opening their doors on the public holiday.

“Visiting both properties would be a great way to spend your Waitangi Day,” says Heritage Destinations General Manager Nick Chin.

“Highwic and Alberton are grand 19th century places that ooze heritage, history, character and charm, and have fantastic stories for the public to enjoy hearing about.

“A particular highlight at Highwic on Waitangi Day will be a display of eight historic flags that have defined us over the years.

“The display tells the stories behind the different flags that have represented New Zealand over the past 180 years – including New Zealand’s first national flag which was likely to have been a paki (flax rain cape).”

Other flags in the display include the McDonnell flag – which was developed by trader Captain McDonnell though never formally registered as a national flag – and The Flag of the United Tribes (Te Kara or The Flag of the Whakaminenga o Nga Hapu Aotearoa) which was chosen as our first official national flag by a group of Northland rangatira in March 1834.

The display also includes our current flag and the story behind its adoption as our national flag in 1902.

Highwic and Alberton will be open from 10am to 4pm, with both properties also serving Devonshire teas for $8 per person. The other Heritage New Zealand properties open on Waitangi Day are Clendon House, Kerikeri's Stone Store and Kemp House, Mangungu Mission, Pompallier Mission and Printery and Te Waimate Mission House in Northland; Thames School of Mines; Old St Paul’s and Antrim House in Wellington; Totara Estate and Clarks Mill in North Otago; and Hayes Engineering Works and the Ophir Post Office in Central Otago.

ENDS