LOCATION
The Kauri Museum in Matakohe, Northland, New Zealand is a 2 hour drive north of Auckland, or a 1 hour drive from Whangarei. Take the turn off at the Brynderwyn hills (State Highway 1) onto State Highway 12 (towards Dargaville). We are 20 minutes up the road from the turn off. The Museum is on the Ancient Kauri Trail to the Waipoua Kauri Forest and on the Twin Coast Discovery Highway.
Helipad transfers on request.
WHEELCHAIRS
The Museum has loan wheelchairs available for guest use.
EV CHARGING POINTS
The Kauri Museum has two charging points outside the main building. These are J-1772 and Type 2 plugs. For more details visit this link.
GUIDED TOURS
Private tours of the museum and behind the scenes special tours are available for an additional cost. Please CONTACT US to find out more. The Museum also opens for private evening functions. PRIVATE TOURS of our Historic Villa - Totara House are available by appointment only. The cost per head is $10.
LOCATION
The Kauri Museum in Matakohe, Northland, New Zealand is a 2 hour drive north of Auckland, or a 1 hour drive from Whangarei. Take the turn off at the Brynderwyn hills (State Highway 1) onto State Highway 12 (towards Dargaville). We are 20 minutes up the road from the turn off. The Museum is on the Ancient Kauri Trail to the Waipoua Kauri Forest and on the Twin Coast Discovery Highway.
Helipad transfers on request.
WHEELCHAIRS
The Museum has loan wheelchairs available for guest use.
EV CHARGING POINTS
The Kauri Museum has two charging points outside the main building. These are J-1772 and Type 2 plugs. For more details visit this link.
GUIDED TOURS
Private tours of the museum and behind the scenes special tours are available for an additional cost. Please CONTACT US to find out more. The Museum also opens for private evening functions. PRIVATE TOURS of our Historic Villa - Totara House are available by appointment only. The cost per head is $10.
EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS
Discover what's new at the Kauri Museum
Temporary exhibitions run throughout the year. Keep an eye out for your annual favourites: Matariki, ANZAC Day and the Heritage Christmas displays.
Allow two to three hours to explore this engrossing museum complex. The Museum grounds also include the original Pioneer Church, School and Post Office.
MAUNGATUROTO
PRIMARY SCHOOL
The museum is delighted to share in Maungaturoto Primary School’s 150th Jubilee celebrations in October.
A grassroots exhibition, coinciding with the Jubilee weekend on the 19th of October, will showcase the experiences of past students and staff from our archives, alongside projects from current students.
Follow this with a visit to the Pioneer School House, to reflect further on social change and developments in school life over time.
FOREST WALKWAY
We are very excited to have opened a spectacular new attraction at the Museum – the Forest Walkway.
The first and largest part of a multi-phase redevelopment, the new walkway features a forest of tall light box “trees” which visitors pass through after entering the Museum. Alive with a natural soundscape of bird song and sounds from the native bush, the Walkway takes visitors back in time to the Jurassic era when kauri emerged in Gondwanaland. It introduces the Māori dimension of the story and, in particular, the story of Tane Mahuta and the creation of the world of light.
Entering through the walkway, the height, sound and light give a “wow” factor, to the Museum, creating a sense of awe and the scale and ancientness of kauri.
ONLINE OBJECT HUNT
Our popular Object Treasure Hunts are available at the museum in easy, medium and hard options for the young, and the young at heart.
Now visitors young and old can also explore the Museum online. Enjoy our most special or unusual items, some of which changed the lives of the people who used them, and see some of the history of the families of Northland.
For the first time we are now able to give the chance to explore the Museum and take part in an Object Hunt from where ever you are, at any time, with our new virtual tours.
The museum includes an authentic reproduction of a full-sized steam powered sawmill, which moves at slow speed so visitors can get up close to see how the mill works to process the trees into useful wood.
The mill also includes Jim Down’s Chainsaw Collection with over 100 chainsaws on display.
THE SAW MILL
THE VOLUNTEERS HALL
The Volunteers Hall showcases the Balderston Kauri, a huge, 22.5-meter-long kauri wood panel which was gifted to the Museum after the original tree was struck by lightning. It includes a staircase with turned kauri railings to the mezzanine, made from the wood of the Balderston Kauri.
The hall also contains:
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extensive collections of kauri and antique furniture
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kauri built sailing vessels, and model boats
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a wood workshop with collection of antique woodworking tools.
STERLING WING
The Sterling Wing showcases a fascinating recreation of a quality 1880-1920 six room home, fully furnished with original decor and lifelike models dressed in period costume – wall to wall with authentic furniture, fittings and ornaments.
The Sterling Wing is typical of how kauri timber was used for building homes and for making beautiful furniture, and features many valuable Northland heritage pieces.
BOARDING HOUSE
Our life-size recreation of a two storey boarding house sits inside the museum. As well as providing accomodation, boarding houses provided an important focal point for local commerce, enabling visiting professionals such as dentists and bankers to set up shop and service the local community.
The mannequins and lifelike models featured throughout the museum are based on real people.
The Boarding House includes a photographic tribute to the boarding houses of the Northland region.
Totara House is a magnificent 1896 kauri villa set in beautiful heritage gardens, lived in and faithfully preserved for more than 120 years by the family of George and Emily Smith.
Viewings are available by appointment.
Please email admin@kaurimuseum.com
MATAKOHE POST OFFICE
Open daily - FREE ENTRY.
From 1909 to 1988 the Matakohe Post Office acted as a centre for the local community. The building itself was built from kauri milled locally. Services offered at the Post Office included postal, banking, telephone, marriage licenses, and official government applications.
The Post Office display features dressed models and original equipment. It includes a fascinating exhibition of old telephones and the manual telephone exchange in the Postmaster’s Residence.
