Puzzle-Mania in the Hokianga

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For many holiday travelers there is nothing more intriguing than that wide spot in the road. Near to the entrance to DOC’s Waiotemarama Bush Track travelers can discover just such a spot.

The Hokianga is home to many New Zealand ‘firsts’: First Maori explorers, first European settlements, first sawmills and boatyards, first to give women the right to vote. Now there’s a new first – New Zealand’s first Puzzle Museum. Located adjacent to the Waiotemarama Falls, the Puzzle Museum is the latest addition to Labyrinth Woodworks and Maze.

Last month, Labyrinth owners Louis and Sue Toorenburg held an opening ceremony for the Museum, attended by an enthusiastic crowd of friends, family, supporters and local tourism operators. Officiating for the ceremony was one of the world’s foremost puzzle designers, Oskar van Deventer from the Netherlands.

The museum contains more than 500 puzzles that have been collected over a 50 year period. Some date to the 1890’s and early twentieth century and represent the works of both renowned and obscure puzzle designers from over 40 countries.

Louis is no light-weight in the puzzle design business either. At nearly 2 metres tall, he was voted the Largest Puzzle Collector in the World at the 2008 International Puzzle Party in Prague. He has had three entries accepted into the world puzzle design competition, including NZANITY, a creation to drive one NZane!

The Labyrinth can be discovered at a wide spot in the road adjacent to the Waiotemarama Falls walking track, 4km up the Waiotemarama Gorge Road from State Highway 12, on the original road to Opononi.

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