A farm machinery display at Tawhiti Museum. Photo / Kem Ormond
A farm machinery display at Tawhiti Museum. Photo / Kem Ormond
Kem Ormond visits Tawhiti Museum, marvels at its lifelike models, and learns what makes the man behind it tick.
What drives someone to build a museum, let alone create thousands of lifelike figures in various scales to make it come alive?
Well, that person would have to be Nigel Ogle, and the museum would have to be Tawhiti, previously an old cheese factory situated on the outskirts of Hāwera, Taranaki.
As a young boy and with his father, Ogle used to deliver milk to the old Tawhiti cheese factory, never imagining that in 1975 he and his wife Teresa would purchase it with the idea of one day turning it into a museum.
What started as a dream, a hobby, and a small collection, has grown over the years to be an impressive visual history of South Taranaki.
This is no ordinary museum; it is so life-like, it transports you back in time and is a wonderful sharing experience for families and generations young or old.
This museum has often been described as one of the most innovative in New Zealand because of the use of life-sized exhibits and scale models capturing the past in a series of super-realistic displays, almost all of which have been designed and built on-site in Nigel’s workshop.
It is the shed with a pair of feet attached … you will have to visit to understand what I mean!
Nigel was previously an art teacher, and I am at a loss to describe the sheer talent of this man, let alone the patience he must have in bucketloads.
From life-sized moulds created from local people used as models, to scale model dioramas, Nigel’s attention to research and detail is certainly not for the fainthearted.
But it is the small-scale figurines that have to be painstakingly sculpted in wax before even a mould can be made that amazes me.
In the intertribal musket war display, the 800 individual figures and the North Taranaki landscape that looks so lifelike took over 18 months to complete, and on top of that no two figures are the same.
Nigel Ogle's life-sized models capture the past at Tawhiti Museum. Photo / Kem Ormond
The day I arrived to have a look through the museum, the cars were pulling up in the carpark and it was filling up fast.
The good thing about this museum is that there are three parts to it, the main museum, the Whalers and Traders and the Bush Railway and if short on time, you can do one part and come another day to continue and finish another section.
Nigel Ogle's attention to detail can be seen in his displays. Photo / Kem Ormond
I was keen to hop aboard the small boat and check out the Whalers and Traders adventure.
Opened in 2010, this was three years in the planning and over two years in the building.
Nigel Ogle used to be an art teacher, which has helped with the attention to detail and creativity in the displays. Photo / Kem Ormond
Without giving too much away, this is a must-see.
You will learn about the history of Taranaki’s whalers and traders, while quietly drifting along on the water through an eerie dark underground world only lit by the twinkling of lanterns, candles, and even artificial glow worms – but watch out for the unexpected.
There's plenty to see for tractor and farm machinery fans. Photo / Kem Ormond
If you are keen on tractors and farm machinery, the Farm Power Hall is a must for you.
Opened in 2004, the vast collection takes you from the horse-drawn era right through to the more powerful machines of the 1930s-1970s.
There are all manner of things to look at at Tawhiti Museum. Photo / Kem Ormond
Ogle’s full-sized models of local people bring the machinery alive and the display will bring back memories for many with the farmer ploughing, the young lad filling up his little car with petrol and the boy using a kitchen colander for a safety hat.
There are cream separators galore, tractor manuals, large hedge-cutting machines and a huge chainsaw collection.
A miniature bulldozer. Photo / Kem Ormond
If you need to have a rest, there are dozens of brightly coloured tractor seats available for you to give your weary feet a break.
In 1990 the opening of The Tawhiti Bush Railway was celebrated with lines laid, locomotives built and carriages ready for the excited public.
Tractors on display at Tawhiti Museum in Hāwera. Photo / Kem Ormond
One Sunday each month you can climb aboard and experience how logging railways used to operate in Taranaki.
While there is so much to see and talk about in the museum and I don’t want to spoil the surprise, I must mention how lucky the people of South Taranaki are to have had their history retold in these fantastic dioramas and displays created by Ogle, his craftmanship is amazing.
Mr Badger at his usual spot in the café. Photo / Kem Ormond
The thing I found most special about this museum is that almost every day you will find Nigel happily giving up his time to talk to visitors about the various aspects of the facility.
Mr Badger is waiting for you at the café, quietly reading by the fireside, while coffee is being made, and fresh baking is coming out of the oven.
This café is a wonderful place for lunch or a cuppa, full of dioramas from Wind in the Willows and there is a frequent guest at one of the tables, a rather quiet chap … see if you can spot him!
