The Kauri Museum is marking its 50th anniversary and the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Albertlander pioneers in Northland with the publication of a new book and an open Settlers Day.
Pioneering Life and the Kauri Tree, a colourful 150 page history, perpetual calendar and recipe book compiled by Sarah Charles, was previewed at a special 50th anniversary celebration at the Kauri Museum on Wednesday.
Local personality, 102- year-old Mavis Smith will cut the cake at the official book launch at the museum's Settlers Day on Saturday.
Featuring contemporary and archive photographs charting the history of the Otamatea area, Pioneering Life and the Kauri Tree covers aspects about local life during those years - including kauri and the timber industry, farming, home-making, family, childhood, Anzac Day, fishing, the church and transport.
It contains colour photographs and over 200 archive black and white photographs from the museum's special collection - many of them unpublished before, and over 50 recipes from the descendants of the early pioneers.