Swinging Cow Cafe and the superb Kauri & Pioneer Museum

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Wednesday, 24th April - Day Twenty-one: Orewa Beach to Paihia via the Kauri Coast 322km (194 miles). We barely have time to see the beach in the morning before we leave on a long and delightfully scenic drive on this warm and beautiful day to the northern part of the North Island.

The highlight of our day, (after we stop for coffee at the amusingly named “Swinging Cow Cafe”), is the Kauri and Pioneer Museum off Hwy 12 at Matakohe. We spend hours looking at the furniture, boats, bowls and numerous other objects made from the magnificent Kauri tree. The “Boarding House” is a replica of the original two storied home in the region and the rooms are exquisitely furnished and dioramas finely detailed. The museum also contains a huge Kauri sawmill showing how the wood was cut in the early 1900’s.

We reach Paihia on The Bay of Islands on the east coast just as it’s getting dark.

P.S. This is for our grandsons: “What do you call a cow with no milk? Answer: “an udder failure”.

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Photos

The Swinging Cow Cafe
coffee break

See the clock?
look to the right!

A wonderful Kauri sculpture
this is David Van Diepen's first wood sculpture

The Boarding House
front entrance to the Boarding House

At the dining table
which was owned and in constant use by a family of eight

The 1997 building to house the sawmill
this is a photo of a photo

The Kauri Museum shop
gorgeous gifts

Flower at the tea house
just down the road from the museum