He Tangata: Lisa Tolich of the Kauri Museum

An exhibit from the Kauri Museum.

Elisabeth Easther talks to the CEO of the Kauri Museum, Matakohe.

My grandparents had a permanent caravan at the campground at Stillwater. There was just one black and white TV in the whole campground and we'd all watch afternoon cartoons on it. There was also a playground, but not a lot else. There were mozzies, sand, prickles; we were always in bare feet.

My father was from Northland and I think he had something against going south of the Harbour Bridge, so we explored an awful lot of Northland. Strapped between my parents in the front seat of a V8 panel van, the views were spectacular. We'd sleep in the van too. It had little curtains down the side windows, a good mattress in the back and it was all set up with crockery and bits and pieces.

When you're a teenager, you don't think practically or long-term. One summer, I had about $15 in my bank account and I thought that would last me an entire week in Hahei. I didn't know who the place belonged to till we got there, a friend of a friend. But we packed everything in the car, plenty of liquid refreshments, and with just $15 to my name, off we trotted, and we had the most wonderful time.

I once tried to cross Foveaux Strait, on the ferry to Stewart Island, but nature was not playing ball and the boat was going vertical. There were school children screaming and throwing up, and eventually it was considered too dangerous to complete the crossing. That was an adventure, but it means I've never made it to Stewart Island. It's on my bucket list, although next time I think I'll fly.

After school I went to university and studied science, qualifying with a Masters degree. I thought I'd become a biochemist, a molecular science researcher, so a completely different path to the one I'm on. Instead of sitting in the corner of a lab talking to myself, today I'm the Chief Executive Officer of the Kauri Museum in Matakohe. It suits me, because I like people but have a passion for science. What I love best about working in museums, is bringing science to a broader audience.

Lisa Tolich and friends. Photo / Supplied

Most of my travel has been for work and one of my most memorable trips was to the States when I had two weeks outside the conference to explore. I went to Alcatraz, I saw the Grand Canyon from a helicopter and I went to Grouse Mountain in Vancouver. It's 15 minutes from downtown Vancouver and you're in the wilderness. The scenery is stunning. We went up a huge peak on a gondola and because it's a wildlife refuge, there are birds of prey flying about. But what really stood out everywhere was the guides, the stories they told and their personal connections to those places.

The kauri is as much an icon as the kiwi and, at the Kauri Museum, the central story is about New Zealand's oldest living resident and the people who lived and worked alongside them. The stories of those amazing trees go back 200 million years and it's neat to tie that into big climactic change events, and how this region's been shaped.

Near here, we have so many great beaches. There's Langs and Rangiputa. I do love Baylys Beach. You can see lignites there. They're the second stage of carbon formation, going from peat to creating coal and the lignites contain pieces of petrified kauri leaves and bark, layers compressed by sand over time, literally over thousands of years. You can clearly see bits of fossilised kauri tree in the cliffs at the side of the beach. Imagine the history of the earth recorded on this big 24-hour biological clock. We find ourselves living at the last two minutes of it.

Further information: see kau.nz