Panorama taken from the front of the Kauri Museum near to Matakohe showing the main entrance to the museum.

Kauri Museum - Kaipara Harbour visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'Kauri Museum' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from Northland.

The Kauri Museum is one of the highlights of Northland in New Zealand and a popular tourist attraction. The museum tells the history of the kauri timber industry upon which much of Northland, including Kohukohu and Rawene, depended and developed. This virtual tour of the museum contains pictures from several rooms, providing an insight to what the visitor might expect.

Volunteers Hall: The Kauri is the tallest conifer native to New Zealand. The largest kauri tree today, 4.4 meters in diameter and over 17m to the lowest branch, is known as the Tane Mahuta (Maori for 'Lord of the Forest'). The oldest living tree is thought to be the near-2,000 year old Te Matua Ngahere (Father of the Forest) in Waipoua Forest. Records show that larger and older trees used to exist in New Zealand. In the Volunteers Hall is the largest slab of kauri timber in the world, some 22m long. There is also a massive transection of a log displaying the vast number of growth rings.

Smith Wing: The massive kauri trees yielded huge trunks and planks used for all sorts of building purposes, from ships to houses, furniture to ornaments and utensils. The grain of the wood is very beautiful and highly prized. Some kauri logs recovered from swamps (called 'swamp kauri') date back over 50,000 years. The Smith Wing shows the early timber industry, with displays of machinery used and other settler artifacts. Another room shows a mockup of a Kauri saw mill.

Kauri Gum Room: Kauri also became famous for the Kauri Gum, formed from hard lumps of tree sap. It was used by the Maori for starting fires and as a pigment. Fossilized lumps of Kauri Gum date back 43 million years old and, like Amber, often contains the remains of insects from the era. The Kauri Museum contains the largest collection of Kauri gum in the world in the basement room, some of which has been carved into beautiful and intricate sculptures.

The Kauri Museum
5 Church Rd
Matakohe 0593
Northland, New Zealand

Take Highway 12 west from Brynderwyn (Highway 1) for 30km. The Kauri Museum is about 140km north of Auckland.