The Kauri Museum is in the west coast village of

Matakohe Matakohe is a settlement in Northland, New Zealand. The Matakohe River is a short river which runs from the north into the Arapaoa River, which is part of the Kaipara Harbour. State Highway 12 passes through Matakohe. Ruawai is 16 km to ...

, Northland, New Zealand. The museum, to the south of the

Waipoua Forest The Waipoua Forest is a forest, on the west coast of the Northland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It preserves some of the best examples of kauri forest remaining in New Zealand. It is notable for having two of the largest living kauri ...

, contains many exhibits that tell the story of the pioneering days when early European settlers in the area extracted

kauri ''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees, native to Australasia and Southeast Asia. It is one of three extant genera in the family Araucariaceae, alongside '' Wollemia'' and ''Araucaria'' (being ...

timber and

kauri gum Kauri gum is resin from kauri trees (''Agathis australis''), which historically had several important industrial uses. It can also be used to make crafts such as jewellery. Kauri forests once covered much of the North Island of New Zealand, bef ...

. The museum has over 4000 sq metres of undercover exhibits, including the largest collection of kauri gum in the world, and the largest collection of kauri furniture. It has a model of a 1900s kauri house with furniture and models in the dress of the early years, and an extensive collection of photographs and pioneering memorabilia. On the wall, there are full-scale circumference outlines of the huge trees, including one of 8 metres, larger even than

Tāne Mahuta Tāne Mahuta, also called "God of the Forest", is a giant Agathis australis, kauri tree (''Agathis australis'') in the Waipoua Forest of Northland Region, New Zealand. Its age is unknown but is estimated to be between 1,250 and 2,500 years. It ...

. The museum includes a working mock-up of a steam

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

. It tells its story from the colonial viewpoint, and presents its representation of the kauri gum industry as part of the process of creating the New Zealand identity. It has little to say about negative aspects, such as the impact on the

Māori people Māori () are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand. Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of Māori migration canoes, c ...

. The Kauri Museum has however helped raise awareness of the need to conserve the remaining forest through a display of photographs by the conservationist

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

, presented in partnership with the Waipoua Forest Trust. Kauri gum unpolished side.jpg,

Kauri gum Kauri gum is resin from kauri trees (''Agathis australis''), which historically had several important industrial uses. It can also be used to make crafts such as jewellery. Kauri forests once covered much of the North Island of New Zealand, bef ...

Kauri Museum Model house.jpg, Gumdigger's hut
made from trunks and plaited leaves of the

Nīkau ''Rhopalostylis sapida'', commonly known as nīkau, is a palm tree endemic to New Zealand, and the only palm native to mainland New Zealand. Etymology is a word borrowed from the Māori language; cognates of this word in the closely related E ...

Flickr - brewbooks - Nihau hut (1).jpg, Inside the hut or

whare A wharenui (; literally "large house") is a communal house of the Māori people of New Zealand, generally situated as the focal point of a ''marae''. Wharenui are usually called meeting houses in New Zealand English, or simply called '' whare' ...

View from Kauri museum.jpg, The museum's
well dug over
surrounding fields Kauri Museum wood mill.jpg, A real

Kauri Museum 1936 picture.jpg, 1936 picture of bush whim Flickr - brewbooks - Kauri museum (9).jpg, The real bush whim Kauri Museum Entrance.JPG, Kauri Museum entrance File:Kauri Museum, Logging Arch .jpg, Logging arch on display at Kauri Museum

References

External links

The Kauri Museum
* (1 min 3 secs) Natural history museums in New Zealand Kaipara District Museums in the Northland Region History of the Northland Region Local museums in New Zealand Forestry in New Zealand Forestry museums Kauri gum {{NewZealand-museum-stub