Our exciting new exhibition will open on Monday 4th September 2023 and its all about MUSIC!!
‘Somewhat Musical – A Musical History of the 1900s’ Exhibition
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Past Stories
Older articles from our archives
HMS Buffalo, digitally preserved and displayed for the first time
In July 1840, the British naval ship, HMS Buffalo, took shelter in Mercury Bay, Whitianga, New Zealand to weather out an incoming storm. When the storm hit, it was described as ‘hurricane strength’ and resulted in the vessel becoming a total loss on what is now known...
Walk Down Memory Lane Exhibit
Where Mercury Bay MuseumWhen Friday 30th September from 10.00am - 04.00pmPrice Free This new exhibit is a blast from the past and will reignite familiar memories from many locals and visitors to the area. It is a nod to the Old School Room...
Land of a Thousand Sorrows Revisited
Saturday, 11 June 2022. Join the Mercury Bay Museum, Mercury Twin Cinemas and HMS Buffalo Re-examination Unit to bring you the first New Zealand screening of Land of a Thousand Sorrows Revisited.
After the Storm
It has been a busy time at the Museum recently with arrival of not one or two, but now six pieces of timber that we believe are from the shipwreck HMS Buffalo. Over the weekend of 28th May we received a total of five timbers that were collected from the beach with the...
New Zealand Archaeology Week: HMS Buffalo – A ship and its survey
30 April 2021 Duration: 1 hour 30min Venue: The Monkey House Club, Whitianga A public evening with presentations and a panel discussion around the shipwreck of the HMS Buffalo in Whitianga. Maritime archaeologists Kurt Bennett & Matthew Gainsford, along with...
NZ Archaeology Week – DIGGING DEEP
30 April 2021 from 11am Duration 2 hours Come and join us for a fun session of digging deep to find the artefacts! Archaeologists discover sites that need to be "dug". The process is very pain stakingly slow but these archaeological sites can tell us a lot about...
NZ Archaeology Week – “Archaeology Is Rubbish!!”
28 April 2021 from 11am Duration 2 hours Come and join us for a fun session of archaeology detective work!! Archaeologists can learn a lot about who was living in places by the rubbish that they find in archaeological sites. Food scraps, tools & clothing can...
NZ Archaeology Week – “Going Potty!!” kids activity session
27 April 2021 Duration 2 hours Come and join us for a fun session of going potty!! Archaeologists can learn a lot about pottery fragments found in archaeological sites. Shape, material and decoration can reveal a vessels construction, function and age! Join us to...
HMS Buffalo’s cannon or carronade?
Located in the Soldiers Memorial Park, Whitianga, sits a cast-iron ordnance that is semi-encased in a contemporary concrete support. Two plaques on the front of the concrete base read that it is the cannon from HMS Buffalo, yet it almost looks too short and stumpy to...
HMS Buffalo Re-examination Project Update
The HMS Buffalo Re-examination Project is crossing its fingers for fine weather and smooth seas this coming weekend. A team of 10 volunteer divers led by maritime archaeologists Matthew Gainsford and Kurt Bennett will be surveying the wreck over the two days. ...
Re-examination Dive Survey Days
27 Feb,10:00 – 28 Feb, 16:00
**POSTPONED DUE TO WEATHER**
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