Tawhiti Museum, Hawera

Our friend Raewyn from Port Ligar told us that we absolutely must stop at the museum in Hawera in South Taranki.  So when we made a detour in the small town, past the rolling paddocks and cows and found this amazing museum, in the middle of nowhere.   And lucky for us a bus group was there, or otherwise the museum would've been closed (it's open Friday-Monday). The Tawhiti Museum is one man's dream.  It has all these great collections of exhibits, small and large.  The boys loved the Traders and Whalers ride, which would do Disneyland proud with its life like replication of life in Taranaki in the 1820's.  If you find yourself cruising around this part of New Zealand, definitely take the detour.