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When Angela Cook heard of an opening at the helm of Mangawhai Museum, the former teacher, art gallery owner, tourism ranger, council event coordinator and consultant for an iwi in Otago (among other things) found the idea alluring.
Angela says she had long cherished the idea of museums being a “third place” – after home and school/work – for bringing people together. It’s something she lived out while homeschooling her daughters in Dunedin, where Toitū Otago Settlers Museum was a favourite destination.
After the family moved to Northland in 2020, visits to Mangawhai Museum left her impressed.
“For a regional museum it really is bursting with stories and magic,” she says.
“When a position at the museum came up, part of what attracted me was the ‘wow’ factor I’d experienced when I’d visited. It exceeded my expectations, and I wanted to be a part of that story.”
Now she is. Appointed late last year, Angela is the museum’s new manager and enthusiastic advocate.
“It’s an excellent museum for families. Kids love it – there are so many things to engage and humour children, and we’re adding to them all the time.”
Popular attractions for children include the tram playhouse. Decommissioned trams were repurposed as baches around Mangawhai, and the museum has one fitted stocked with vintage items, a magnet for kids who love ‘playing house’ inside.
Leading up to the museum’s 10th anniversary in December, Angela says events to mark the occasion and honour those who have poured so much time into it will include a special photo exhibition and publication of a book.
Another priority relates to the Daring, the salvaged kauri schooner that was brought to the museum three years ago and has been situated on site on a temporary storage license.
(Built in Mangawhai in 1863, the Daring was grounded near Muriwai just two years later and remained buried there until uncovered by shifting sands in 2018, and transported by volunteers back to Mangawhai.)
Together with the Daring Trust, feasibility studies are underway on the possibility of adding an extension to the museum to make the boat an official exhibit.
Managing the museum and telling the stories of Mangawhai align well with another string in Angela’s bow – author of young adult and middle grade fiction published under the pen name Angela Armstrong.
Her 2021 fantasy The Unflinching Ash did especially well, given a boost after children’s entertainer Suzy Cato read the early chapters aloud on her Treehut TV channel during the pandemic lockdown.
Angela doesn’t have much time to write now – “the museum is soaking up all of my creative energy, in a great way” – but tries to squeeze some in during the odd weekend away. She also enjoys attending book expos, such as the upcoming Ages of Pages event in Hamilton, featuring more than 60 authors.
Museum board chair Jill Corkin says the board feels fortunate to have secured its new manager.
“She is an accomplished, published author, so brings research, writing and storytelling skills to the role,” Corkin says. “She has also worked in gallery roles, has strong IT skills and her teaching background means she has a strong interest in developing the education side of what Mangawhai Museum offers.”
Angela says she fell in love with Mangawhai during three years of housesitting across Northland. She loves the ocean and has learned to surf since coming to waters more forgiving than Dunedin’s, where she describes the experience of frigid seas as “a sensory overload of affliction”.
Meanwhile, museum admissions are steadily growing. The arrival of a new café late last year after the departure of the previous café operator has brought new opportunities: The museum is exhibiting items from its collection that don’t require climate control in Kōtare café.
