The Award Winning Kauri Museum at Matakohe is one of New Zealands foremost theme museums, located just 90 minutes north of Auckland, off State Highway12 and en-route to the ancient Kauri trees of the Waipoua Forest. The Kauri Museum tells the stories of the pioneering settlers through the theme of this mighty Kauri Tree..the second largest tree in the worldhow it shaped the lives of these pioneers through its superb timber and its highly sought after resin or gum The many galleries of the museum show the trees themselves, to the timber they produced, and the buildings, furniture and crafts they inspired. The displays focus on the makeshift settlements around logging camps, the gumfields and the lives of merchants who were among the few you could afford to buy the fine kauri furniture or beautifully carved gum It also records the Museums wonderful collection of arts and crafts devised from the gum of the trees, and houses the largest collection of kauri gum in the world. Displays include a huge 22-metre slab of kauri, a replica of a working sawmillrestored operational machinery a completely furnished 1900s kauri boarding house.. panels of New Zealand native trees and magnificent early New Zealand furniture. A pioneer church, school and post office are part of the complex along with vast collections of original photographs and pioneering memorabilia

• published: 27 Apr 2010
• views: 1496461
• author: actionadventurevideo