Prime Minister John Key is to meet the carvers who produced the pou for Northland's popular new cycle trail during a visit to the Far North later this month.
Mr Key will visit the area on 18 August to talk to everyone involved in establishing the Pou Herenga Tai Twin Coast trail.
The first stage was completed recently and the first of the big carvings, by Moerewa's Community Max workers, is now in place along the route.
The Prime Minister's programme includes a walkabout in Kaikohe's main street, where empty shops are evidence of how hard the small town has been hit by the recession.
Mr Key will also visit one of the town's success stories, the Ngawha geothermal power station.
Northland National party officials are calling the Prime Ministerial visit to Kaikohe a "coup" and say people who want to go to the powhiri to welcome him should be at the Mid North Motor Inn before 11 am.
