Whangarei Heritage Park

This patchwork Heritage Centre includes The Museum, Kiwi North, the Medical Museum, Whangarei Steam and Model Railway Club, Whangarei Model Engineering Club, Planetarium North, and a bird recovery centre, combined on the grounds of the 1886 Clarke Homestead, in 25 hectares of subtropical forest which includes picnic areas.

Popular with families is the miniature Railway which runs on every third Sunday of the Month and is priced at $2 for a ride.

Amongst the variety of special exhibits is a charming and curious octagonal building which inspires further enquiry. It turns out to be a very old Christian Church, which has had a hard life, is far from home but still retains it's charismatic structure and presence. Now named the Oruaiti Chapel, it was the non-denominational first place of worship for the Pakeha settlers of Mangonui, hewn from a single kauri log, and placed in farmland, used by both Methodists and Anglicans in the far North until a bitter feud with an Exclusive Brethren sect divided the community. After it was moved a little, then re-opened for a short revival, it was eventually brought to the Heritage Park in the 1980s.
A J Johnson of the Wesley historical society described the little building best in his report:
'Of this chapel and its folk, it will be truly said by those who know — "They builded better than they knew."'

Image Credits; Alanah Stigsdottir Photographer