Hi there
On one day a year, Government House, the home of the Governor-General of New Zealand (the officially non-political representative of the Queen) is open to the public. People queue for hours, like a long snake weaving down the driveway, almost to the main street.
What I didn't know until a couple of weeks ago was that anyone can go on a guided tour of the building. You only have to book in advance (see link above; it might work!). I went with a group from my gym class - about a dozen of us. Solo snoopers can enjoy the tour too! All are security-checked in advance.
The stories told by our guide about the history of the house, the previous governors-general, the china, furniture, paintings were so interesting, and some stories were quite funny. Many of the paintings are rotated from Te Papa Museum or other galleries; a GG often picks the paintings she/he would temporarily like for the house. The Governor-General has her private rooms upstairs but, naturally we didn't go up there.
I did find out that if New Zealanders have, say, a 50th wedding anniversary or a one hundredth birthday coming up then they should just fill in a form to get official recognition.
below: back view of Government House. After going through security and iron gates we entered via this way into the house. Tradesmen's entrance?
below: the 'throne" room. Investitures, balls ,cocktail parties take place in here. They've tried to keep the decor as it was from the beginning.
below: part of a reception room
