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Kiwi towns

What’s so great about Matakohe things to do

  • 4 minutes

Northland, New Zealand

Best bits a kiwi town

Matakohe there are plenty of things to do. Find out what happened to the majestic kauri, who chopped down the forest and why. Matakohe is the home to the fabulous Kauri Museum and the adjoining kauri framed 19th century church and school house. The stunning display of heritage roses draws visitors every spring to the area.

Kauri Museum, Northland, New Zealand @KauriMuseum
@KauriMuseum

WHAT TO DO IN MATAKOHE, HIGHLIGHTS

  • Kauri Museum visit including excellent gift shop
  • Heritage rose collection surrounding 19th century church
  • Kauri Bushmans Reserve walk

MATAKOHE KAURI MUSEUM

The Kauri Museum narrates the stories of European settlers and Maoris involved in the kauri timber logging industry. Highlights include an interactive hands-on displays; the largest collection of Kauri Gum in the world; Real Steam Sawmill with moving saws, flat belts, countershafts, pulleys and steam engines; huge Kauri logs and real equipment for the transporting and milling of Kauri Timber, and collecting Kauri Gum; and a magnificent collection of antique Kauri furniture. The grounds have an ethnographic collection of the school house and original church. The grounds are known for their extensive nineteenth century rose collection.

MATAKOHE PIONEER CHURCH

Built 1866 the kauri timber church is exquisite with its surrounding rose garden. The church is available for hire as a location for wedding photographs or ceremonies.

MATAKOHE POST OFFICE

The post office functioned between 1909 – 1988 as the community hub. The building is built from locally milled kauri. The post office museum has displays of featured models and original equipment. It includes a fascinating exhibition of old telephones and the manual telephone exchange in the Postmaster’s Residence

COATES MEMORIAL CHURCH & MATAKOHE CEMETERY

The Coates Memorial Church is available for weddings and funerals. The Church is set in the historic Matakohe Cemetery which is open to the public and is the resting place of both early families to the area and local residents.

TOTARA HOUSE

A pioneer home is now a living museum with the original coal ranges, kauri bench kitchen tops, native timber panelling, photographs of bullock teams in the billiard room and hand crafted furniture. The grounds are planted in the style of the 1880’s. The house is open by appointment, contact Kauri Museum for details.

The Kauri Museum, Matakohe, Northland, New Zealand
The Kauri Museum, Matakohe, Northland
A close up of large orange-salmon rose of the 'Lady Emma Hamilton' variety in the garden on a sunny summer day, Waikato, New Zealand

WALKS

HERITAGE ROSE GARDENS

There is free entry to the 120 heritage roses, recognised by New Zealand Heritage Rose Society with an award of Nationally Significant Planting of Historic Roses.

The rose collection is catalogued and includes popular names such as Charles de Mills, Cecile Brunner, La France and Mutabilis. The garden is managed by volunteers from Heritage Roses Northland.

At the museum, there are formal beds of shrub roses surrounded with box hedging and climbers trained on the tennis court fencing adjacent to the museum.

KAURI BUSHMEN’S MEMORIAL SCENIC RESERVE

A boardwalk loop through a surviving kauri grove gives visitors a sense of what the forest was before the wholesale logging cleared the land. The 15 minute walk is suitable for all age groups. The reserve is a memorial to the kauri loggers of the nineteenth century.

The Kauri Bushmen’s Association was formed in 1936 with membership open to all men who had worked in kauri forests prior to 1914. The association held three annual reunions before going into recess during the Second World War. It resumed activity in 1949 and bought a fine stand of kauri trees that had been preserved by the Sterling family near Paparoa.

Length: 300 metres

MATAKOHE CYCLE TRAIL

The trail follows tracks using the original one lane bridges of Matakohe.

It’s suitable for families and a great way to explore the Kaipara coastline, with its native bush sections and gentle rural landscapes.

A stunning pou grounds the trail to the whenua in this place. Carved by master carver Te Warihi Hetaraka the sculpture speaks of the weaving together of the people from the four corners of the earth, called by the manu (bird) atop the pou, as we come together as one.

@kaiparacycletrails
@kaiparacycletrails

Ruawai Stopbank Trail

  • The Trail runs south along the stopbank from Ruawai Wharf for 4km to the end of Simpson Road. It is suitable for all ages and abilities. The ride offers views of the Kaipara Harbour and access to a very special wide-open space.
  • Cyclists may choose to loop around Wilson’s Landing Road or continue along Simpsons Road for a longer ride, either to Tinopai or the café at Matakohe Museum.
  • The Ruawai Flats were once a tidal swamp and over the past 100 years a man-made system of drains, floodgates and stopbanks have transformed it into some of the most fertile and productive kumara and dairy farmland in Northland. See the floodgates operating, learn about the history of the area from informative signs and observe the wildlife as you ride.
  • Facilities – there are parking, toilets and drinking fountains at the Ruawai Wharf and a Café in Ruawai township.

MATAKOHE’S LOCATION

The town is on the tidal estuary of the Matakohe River, tributary of Arapaoa River flows into the vast Kaipara Harbour. State Highway 12 traverses the small town

MATAKOHE’S FAME

  • Gordon Coates, Prime Minister 1925-28, born on the Hukatere Peninsula at Ruatuna, and attended Matakohe School. He was New Zealand’s first native born Prime Minister.

WHO TURNED UP AND NAMED MATAKOHE?

  • Mata: headland; kohe (shortened form of kohekohe): native tree.

MATAKOHE’S POPULATION

  • Approximately 400

JUDGMENT ON MATAKOHE

  • Outstanding museum with its interactive exhibits it will attract kids as well as heritage fans

Every town adds to the richness of things to do and see. For more details about the region check Far North & Northland Region nearby attractions and events.

Need an accomodation place in Matakohe?

Matakohe – Kauri Museum (unmissable) – where to stay

Matakohe, home of the must-visit Kauri Museum. The small rural settlement offers visitors an authentic New Zealand escape to the subtropical north. Kauri Museum, delve into the story of the Kauri tree.

Book now @Matakohe House
@Matakohe House @Matakohe House
@Matakohe House @Matakohe House
@Matakohe House @Matakohe House

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