Kauri Museum scoops top Aussie award

Northland's Kauri Museum has won the accolade of "Favourite North Island Attraction" from a major Australian travel organisation.
The museum at Matakohe was named the top choice of places to visit by Grand Pacific Tours - a major New Zealand luxury coach holiday operator based in Australia.
Northland tourism businesses won five out of nine major category awards in the Supplier of the Year Awards at the annual Grand Pacific Tours Awards, announced in Melbourne last week.
Grand Pacific Tours sends thousands of Australians to New Zealand each year. Tourists complete a satisfaction survey at the end of each tour and rate their experience at all New Zealand hotels and attractions they visited.
Curator Bet Nelley said winning the award was a major achievement.
"This award is a real feather in our cap. The award is highly sought after by all operators. It's a huge tribute to the museum and to all our staff, including the volunteers and Friends of the Museum," Ms Nelley said.
"We place a huge focus on customer service. Grand Pacific demands excellence of service and the award shows that all involved in the Kauri Museum are delivering what our visitors want. Excellence is the benchmark, and this shows this is what we are achieving."
The museum also won the award in 2007-08.
"We are pleased to have edged Skyline Rotorua into second place, albeit only by 0.1 per cent."
Ms Nelley said the museum was at a slight disadvantage because it was usually the first place visited by the coach tours, so less fresh in the memory when visitors were surveyed at the end of a trip.
"Rotorua offers the luge and a fabulous Skyline restaurant, so we were thrilled to have once again gained the recognition," she said.
Other Northland winners in the the Supplier of the Year Awards for the 2010-11 touring season were:
- Best Hotel, 16 Day Highlights Tour, Kingsgate Hotel Autolodge, Paihia
- Best Hotel, 19 Day Grand New Zealand Tour - Scenic Hotel Bay of Islands
- Best Hotel, 19 Day Rail, Cruise and Coach Tour - Ipipiri, Overnight Cruise, Bay of Islands
- Driver's Hotel of Choice - Kingsgate Hotel Autolodge, Paihia