The Story of One Man's Unique Heritage Project

Lifesize figures, Tawhiti Museum

OPEN
Every Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday 10am - 4pm

SUMMER SEASON
Open every day from Boxing Day
to the end of January

WINTER SEASON
June, July, August - Open Sundays only

Groups
By arrangement only.

Mr Badger's Cafe
Opens same days and hours as the museum.
Catering for large groups willingly arranged.

Tawhiti Bush Railway
The railway runs on the first Sunday of each month, Sundays during school holidays, and most public holidays, weather permitting.

Tawhiti Museum

Covid-19 Update

From 8th October 2021 Tawhiti Museum and Traders and Whalers will be back to our normal four days a week (Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday) from 10am to 4pm. Covid-19 restrictions will be in place - mask coverings will be compulsory for adults and children over 12. Proximity advice as per government guidelines - 1m distancing, will apply. In the short term the cafe will not have their full food menu but will be available for teas, coffees and cold drinks

Tawhiti Museum
An Inside Look - Bringing you face to face with your heritage

Welcome to the Tawhiti Museum website.

The Tawhiti Museum is a truly unique enterprise. The creation of artist Nigel Ogle, its attention to detail is simply stunning.

Widely acclaimed as the best private museum in the country, the museum uses life size exhibits and scale models to present our heritage in a series of super realistic and engaging displays.

All these displays are designed and built on the premises in the 'Body Shop' and accompanying studios, which can be viewed as part of a museum visit.

Browsing through this website will give you some idea of the attention to detail that gives Tawhiti Museum its unique and compelling character.

Extensive use is made of both life sized figures and smaller scale figures in the displays.The life size figures add something of a social perspective to the displays while the scale models depict scenes that would be impossible to recreate life size and help to display artifacts in a meaningful context.

The warm natural terracotta colour of the local clay is ideal for all unglazed wares.