The Kauri Museum has been telling the remarkable story of our largest native tree since it opened 61 years ago.
Now the museum, located in Northland, has undergone a multimillion-dollar makeover in the hopes of bringing in more visitors.
Local children were among the first to get a sneak peek at the new Forest Walkway.
"It kind of gave me the vibe of an eerie forest," one of the kids told Seven Sharp.
The forest is dotted with towering lightboxes leading visitors through a natural landscape.
"We really, really wanted to connect with the next generation and really evoke, kind of make an emotional connection of the majesty of this tree and the forest and really try to bring the people into the 21st century of a museum experience," museum director Barbara Hilden said.
The new corridor is part of a $3 million makeover — and it's just the beginning.
"All of our exhibits are going to be refreshed slowly over a period of years to really expand the number of stories we're telling and diversify the voices, bringing in community members to tell stories," Hilden said.
"Co-curation is a big thing in museums now, so we really want to modernise and make sure that this museum is relevant for future generations."
But visitor numbers to the museum — and Matakohe township — have dropped significantly from its peak of 90,000 in 2000 in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, museum board chairman Grant McCallum said.
"We get the odd grant to help build things but what we've had to do is we've had to rely on visitors and being that middle-sized museum, we can't rely entirely on volunteers to maintain this massive collection," he said.
"We're now in the process of trying to finding commercial partners to work with us, to help us with our space."
Kauri, which take 100 to 200 years to mature, can grow to heights of 50m and girths of 15m.
One of its by-products is its gum, which oozes from the trees and is more valuable than the timber.
A prominent feature of Northland, the lords of the forest were extensively milled to the point of extinction.
Hilden said she wants visitors to the museum to "have an emotional connection with kauri; with this incredible, majestic national resource".
"Something that will make them appreciate this beautiful wood which you can't get anymore," she said.
"You can't cut it down and make new furniture so appreciate the treasures that we have — recognise what a loss it is, frankly. That's also part of the story — these trees that were cut down, these resources that were lost — and that's part of what this new walkway experience will do, I hope, is make people ask those questions."
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