Kauri Musuem and Mothers day.

We headed off to my Mums on Saturday night the weather was no where bad as forecast, Sunday was be mothers day in NZ.   Mum and Dad only live in Warkworth which is  less than  an hour north of Auckland.  Mum fed us lasagna and salad, which was divine...what is is about your own mothers cooking always taste so good!    We had a few too many wines and a great night was had.   It seems that the older I get the better I get along with my folks.  They have become great friends.  

Happy mothers day mum!

Sunday morning dawned fine and sunny, so we had decided to head north and pay a visit to The Kauri Museum another hour or so north of Warkworth.  Half the trip was done on SH 1, before turning west just before the Brenderwyn hills.  It was a very pleasant Sunday morning ride.  Once we got to the museum we had a coffee before we started the walk around.

Nestled in the picturesque west coast village of Matakohe, Northland, The Kauri Museum is one of New Zealand’s most amazing theme museums. Approximately 90,000 people visit our internationally acclaimed Northland heritage museum every year. Open 9.00am to 5.00pm daily (closed Christmas Day). 

As one of the best  places to visit in Northland, The Kauri Museum is the perfect insight into Northland’s pioneer past. Visit our heritage museum en route to the ancient kauri trees in the Waipoua Forest. 

The award winning The Kauri Museum, Matakohe tells the fascinating story of the pioneering days through the use of kauri timber and kauri gum. Explore the many exceptional displays and galleries inside the museum, from our magnificent collection of antique kauri furniture and the largest collection of kauri gum in the world, to restored machinery, including NZ’s earliest tractor, a 1929 Cat 60, and a turning steam sawmill. As one of Northland’s best attractions, you will be able to view a two storey life-sized replica Boarding House, a Pioneer School and the historic Matakohe Post Office with a fantastic collection of telephones. 

The Kauri museum captures the history of the far north, the beautiful kauri forests that covered this part of the country , the logging, and the gum industry that sprung up around it.  The museum is excellent and well worth a visit.  You need to allow a good couple of hours to see it, but if you want to read all of the notes on the exhibits and see all the pictures you could easily lose 4-5 hours.    I have ridden past it many time, so it was great to see it.

There are wonderful examples of huge kauri tress, products, furniture, tools of the trade, rebuilt buildings, boats, miniature boats..endless stuff to look at.  I highly recommend a visit.

Some of the beautiful antique furniture

Gum.....or Amber as it is called.

Sailing boats made fro Kauri

An equiste table

Model boats

We left the museum and headed south, we got hold of our friends and took HW 16 from Wellsford, where we caught up with our friends in Helinsville.  We meandered home after that.  It was a great and enjoyable day on the bike, the weather behaved and the roads were good.