Highlights

Mauao, Mount Maunganui, is one of New Zealand's most popular landmarks with over one million people walking up or around Mauao every year. It is of significant cultural, traditional, historical and spiritual importance.

Te Whakaata i te Matapihi provides a glimpse of hidden treasures. Designed to make known the ability of traditional artisans the collection reveals the strands of valued knowledge expressed through the hands of the maker and the marks they leave behind. Hei pupuri te aho o te waananga, hei kawe i ngaa kura huna a Rua - To hold fast to the strands of valued knowledge.

Professional photographer Robert Rendell captured images of New Zealand places and events for nearly 40 years. During the interwar years Tauranga was the focus of his lens and on retiring his studio was passed on to his son Alf Rendell who photographed Tauranga for another 30 years.

Every summer locals and visitors alike flock to the Bay of Plenty coastline to swim, surf and enjoy long warm days. While Maori swam, flew kites, and surfed using wooden planks and small canoes, Pakeha have only been enjoying beach life, as we know it, for the last 120 years. The importance of beach culture to our region has ensured that the Tauranga Heritage Collection has a fantastic swimwear collection. The 75 suits in the collection span more than 100 years of swimwear trends and includes 21 Expozay items.