The museum has three main sections. As the name would suggest there is a large section on the War efforts of New Zealand in WW 1 and WW 2. This was not really of much interest to us but it may be to people interested in studying wars and the parts played by other countries.
The section of most interest and fun to us was the section on the Maoris, the natives who were the first to live in New Zealand. New Zealand is overrun with Maori tourist exhibits and once you have seen a few, you may lose interest but this is an excellent exhibit to familiarize yourself with the native history.
We also strongly recommend spending the extra $5NZ to see the 1/2 hour Maori performance of singing and dancing after which you get a chance to talk to the performers and ask questions. For rugby fans they perform the "Haka" which is the chant the New Zealand Allblacks perform at the start of each game. When I asked one of the performers if this was what they had done he answered, "Yes, only we do it better!" They will be happy to explain all of the displays to you which greatly increases your ability to understand the displays. The exhibits include an 82 foot war canoe, a large meeting house, historical weapons etc.
The third area is a natural history museum relating to New Zealand. This is actually quite interesting as New Zealand had no animal life other than birds and insects until the English colonists arrived. The English brought cattle, sheep, rabbits, possums, dogs, cats, etc. Accordingly New Zealand has no predatory animals and thus the rabbits and possums grew wildly to the extent that the possums have been subject to eradication projects. New Zealand is home to large numbers and varieties of birds.