1. Who owns the museum?
Ownership is vested in the Kaipara District Council but is administered by Otamatea Kauri & Pioneer Museum Trust Board - a charitable trust.
2. Do we receive any Government funding?
No. Income is from door admissions and souvenir sales. However, we do apply for grants for major developments such as the Volunteers Hall, Sawmill etc. Grants have been received from ASB Trust, Lotteries Commission and Marsden Point Oil Refinery.
3. How many people work at the museum?
We have eleven full-time and twelve part-time staff and many volunteers.
4. How many volunteers do you have?
The museum has approximately 100 volunteers. They provide valuable voluntary hours in many areas (ie, Trust Board, Friends Committee, shop, gardening, display spring-cleaning, archive work, research, machinery restoration Live Models etc).
5. Are kauri trees still cut down?
Yes, but only in small amounts. Trees may be milled if forest owners have a sustainable tree planting programme, however, the Forests Amendment Act 1993 has made it more difficult to cut down kauri trees.
6. Where does the kauri come from that is used in the making of souvenirs?
Swamp kauri; recycled kauri; kauri kept in private stock; head logs and stumps that were left behind.
7. Is kauri still being recovered from swamps?
Yes.
8. What is the difference between kauri gum and amber?
Kauri gum is known as copal - this is a young amber. Amber is older and harder than kauri gum. We are able to date kauri gum up to 43 million years old. Amber dates from 25 million to over 200 million years.
9. How much kauri is left today?
It is estimated that there is 4% of uncut forest left in small pockets.
10. Definition of a Super Foot
12 inches long -304mm
by 12 inches Wide - 304 mm
by 1 inch thick - 25 mm
11. Who discovered kauri gum made a very good varnish?
It was after experimental shipments of kauri gum were sent to London in the 1830's by Gilbert Mair or James Busby, or both, that its value in the manufacture of varnish was discovered. One report has it that a shipment of 20 tons, pronounced worthless by London experts, was thrown overboard into the Thames (refer page 68 'The New Story of the Kauri', A H Reed; 634.9). The Kauri Museum has the largest collection of kauri gum in the world.
12. Where is the 'log hauler'?
This is situated next to the old "Matakohe Post Office".
13. What is the silver container hanging at Mavis' side in the living room?
A spectacle case or a spectacle chatelaine (decorative and useful waist-hung accessory).
14. What causes "mottled" effects in kauri timber?
Excerpt from page 51 'The New Story of Kauri', A H Reed, 634.9: "Mottling Is sometimes caused by the tree throwing out an excessive number of branchlets, and in other cases by a kind of disease in which the too rapid development of cellular tissue prevents the proper expansion of the bark, resulting in small portions becoming enclosed in the sap-wood, forming the dark mottlings. There are several kinds of mottled kauri - plain, figured, bird's-eye and fern-leaf. Still other varieties are described as waved, dappled, feathered and figured." The Kauri Museum has a lot of mottled kauri on display and sometimes even for sale in the Museum Shop.
15. What are the statistics of the largest living kauri trees, ie, Tane Mahuta and Te Matua Ngahere?
TE MATUA NGAHERE - FATHER OF THE FOREST
The largest diameter and oldest kauri still living. It has been standing in Waipoua Forest on the Kauri Coast for an estimated 2,000 years. A first class ten-minute track from State Highway 12 leads you to the massive tree.
Diameter: 5.22 metres (17 Feet)
Girth: 16.41 metres (54 Feet)
Trunk Height: 10.21 metres (33.5) feet - to first branch
Volume: 208.1 cubic metres (7,346 cubic feet)
TANE MAHUTA - LORD OF THE FOREST
The largest volume kauri still living. Awesome in size, approximately 1,250 years old, this tree is a wonderful sight. It is two minutes walk from State highway 12 in Waipoua Forest on the Kauri Coast.
Diameter: 4.38 metres (14.4 feet)
Girth: 13.77 metres (45 Feet)
Trunk Height: 17.68 metres (58 Feet) - to first branch
Volume: 244.5 cubic metres (8.631 cubic feet)
16. How did Gumboots get their name?
From the fact they were made from latex rubber - gum from the rubber tree - hence the word gumboot.
17. What is the proper name for the silver vases on the sideboard in the drawing room?
Epergne - an ornament for the centre of a dinner table holding flowers or fruit.
18. What is a concretion?
Small rocks massed together by volcanic action to form large round rock-like formations. An example can be found in the Ross Wing.
19. Who makes the models of the people?
They are made by Owen Yeoman from Napier.
20. Is the telescope used by James Trounson on his voyage to New Zealand on display? If so, where?
Yes, it can be found in the glass cabinet by the old entrance to Collections Department (Pioneer Room).
21. What does Matakohe mean?
Mata - for Headland, and Kohe - for KoheKohe tree.
Headland with KoheKohe tree growing on it. (W.W. Reed, dictionary of Maori Place Names)
