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.
OVERLOOKED
60 Items celebrating 60 years of the Kauri Museum
The size and scale of the Museum mean it’s nearly impossible to take everything in. Individual items can be easily overlooked, dwarfed by machinery or tucked into the far corner of an exhibit.
This 60th anniversary exhibition brings together 60 items that help tell our unique story.
Until April 2023
FORGOTTEN TALES OF THE KAIPARA
Recorded and compiled by Luciana Orr, this unique exhibition shares the social history of a region, stories of people and place, rebellion and redemption as told by five long-standing locals. The 45-minute sideshow is complemented by displays of archival images and items from the Museum collections.
Until March 5 2023
THE MUSEUM AT 60
A photographic display of the building of the Kauri Museum
Opened in 1962, the Museum has expanded greatly in the years since, and is now the largest under-cover tourist attraction in Northland. This exhibition has some of the many thousands of photos of the construction work and people involved over the years.
Until January 2022
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ONLINE OBJECT HUNT
Every school holidays we have an Object Hunt, where visitors young and old can explore the Museum, looking for some of 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 Object Hunt is specially for Primary school aged children.
MUSEUM REDEVELOPMENT
The Museum is undergoing its largest redevelopment in 15 years. We will add information, dates and photos here as the building work progresses.
THE SAW MILL
The Museum includes a full sized sawmill, which moves at slow speed so visitors can get up close to see how the mill works.
SMITH WING
The Smith Wing shows huge kauri logs and has actual equipment for felling trees, transporting logs, milling timber and collecting kauri gum.
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.
MATAKOHE PIONEER CHURCH
Erected in1866-67 this beautifully preserved kauri timber church is set in stunning heritage rose gardens with a view over rolling pastures.
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.
THE SCHOOL HOUSE
Early education began in Matakohe in 1878 and the Museum’s Pioneer School was Matakohe’s first school building. The school is complete with desks, pens, books, maps and more.
