Indoor Activities

Tells the stories and exhibits the Maori history of South Taranaki. A small and friendly museum in the main street, just along the road from the large waka (canoe), Aotea, that is raised three metres above the street. It’s hard to miss and well worth the stop.

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.

Our knowledge centre is the first of its type in New Zealand and maybe the world. That's because it houses a full public library, museum and visitor information centre, which flow from one to another through the sharing of knowledge. An airbridge joins the two buildings, in the same way this website allows you to link to the endless resources available. Through the use of new technology, we are able to bring Taranaki to the world and the world to Taranaki.