Marvel at the museums

How a region chooses to tell the story of their history can be surprisingly revealing. It's a peek behind the curtain, a look at the fabric of a town. What the following three museums tell about their communities is a shared tenacity (needed when raising millions of dollars and learning how to archive), an infectious sense of humour and insatiable energy. These are the museums of the future – they're just in the most unexpected of places.

Hokonui Moonshine Museum

Hollywood scouts would be hard-pressed to pass up the story of local 19th-century resident Mary McRae. Mary and her liquid legacy certainly make for a silver screen-worthy script. A casualty of the Highland Clearances (the eviction of Scots from their land), Mary and her seven children sailed to Dunedin in 1872. Along with her three brothers, Mary made her home in the Hokonui Hills. Mary was of strong Scottish spirit, with a love for a strong Scottish spirit – whisky in particular. Luckily she had stowed away her copper still in a box marked ‘household goods', so the McRaes were rarely thirsty.

Neighbours and fellow settlers were quick to befriend the McRaes, and their reputation and clientele quickly grew. As the McRaes turned a blind eye to the need for licence and tax, their potent beverage became known as Hokonui moonshine (the name coming from the tax-evading need to distil at night). However, while their clientele was happy, if not a little unsteady on their feet, a call for prohibition was dividing the country. On 30 June 1902, Gore passed prohibition, and the area went dry.

Or so the authorities thought. In reality, the distillers and drinkers just became sneakier, smarter and better liars. The Hokonui Moonshine Museum shares stories of hidden rooms, dodgy firefighters, dry-cleaners with a difference and neighbours dobbing in neighbours. It's a clever museum with a colourful cast of characters, and a bar where visitors can taste test Hokonui moonshine made to the original Scottish recipe (the museum distils and sells their moonshine under the Hokonui name). 16 Hokonui Drive, Gore. (03) 203 9288, goredc.govt.nz The Hokonui Moonshiners Festival is a biennial celebration of those innovative and crafty settlers. The next festival is in February 2021. moonshinefest.co.nz

Mataura Museum

In the industrial town of Mataura is a tiny cottage that was once home to a large family. Mr Jim Spooner, his eight children and his niece called 68 Kana Street home for 56 years until the 1980s, when the cottage became the Mataura Museum. However, as happens in many small-town museums, over time it became a bit of a dumping ground.

Marie Wilkinson is secretary and one of the eight dynamic ladies who set about transforming the wee home into an award-winning Mataura showpiece. It would be an achievement for any group; however, considering these ladies are all aged between 70-90 years, their dedication to fundraising, learning new practices and adopting technology is staggering. “We had a hell of a lot of fun along the way,” says

Marie. “We opened without owing a penny to anyone, and with storage and catalogue systems that are up to Te Papa standards.” The climate-controlled storage area is impressive enough without learning that a 95-year-old Mataura resident hand-sews each of the pillows placed in the artefact boxes. Mataura has a long industrial history, and the cottage pays tribute to this. The rabbitprocessing factory, paper mill, freezing works and dairy industry are all showcased, with personal touches and stories – look for the cake topper from the wedding of the Taylors, owners of the rabbit-processing factory. Interactive iPads and video interviews dive deeper into the archive and explore the town's history. 68 Kana Street, Mataura.

(03) 203 7924, on Facebook.

Lawrence Museum & Info Centre

The Lawrence Museum may not have had the multi-million dollar upgrade of its peers, but that adds to its charm. This space weaves together everything that has made the small town great. There's a nod to mining and farming, plus national anthem memorabilia, tales of runaway lions – even the good silverware. The locals behind the desk are kind goldmines of knowledge, always keen to point travellers in the right direction and divulge a local story or two. 17 Ross Place, Lawrence. (03) 485 9222, lawrence.nz

Switzers Museum & Bottle

There is only one photo that shows the original mining town of Switzers, 3km away from the Southland town of Waikaia (population 100). It's blown up on the wall of the newly renovated Switzers Museum, a reminder that hard work can quite literally move the earth. Mairi Dickson knows a thing or two about hard work; she was the chair of the museum committee, which raised $1.7 million to transform the old hall into a stateof-the-art homage to Waikaia's rich history. Despite the shiny exterior and artfully designed exhibitions, Switzers Museum feels deeply personal. The stories belong to the community – the people peering out from black and white photos are their ancestors, the land is their backyard. Some of the stories are amazing, like the historic paddle found in a farmer's shed or the jade bracelet from one of the original Chinese miners. Others are sombre. Like in many little villages, the World Wars left deep scars, far deeper than the shafts left by miners. There's a single button that was used to identify one of Waikaia's soldier sons years after his demise. The once mundane details of daily life on high-country farms and stations also take a star turn under the well-placed lights of the museum.

But wait, there's more. Who could miss The Bottle, the multi-storey bottle house made from, of course, glass bottles. “The Bottle was the idea of Mum and her cronies”, says Mairi. “They went on holiday to Australia and came back with the idea of building an attraction”. With 20,000 wine bottles and a dash of that Waikaia hard work, The Bottle took shape and has become a beloved community quirk. 30 Blaydon Street, Waikaia. 020 412 10180, waikaia.co.nz

Mairi Dickson