We made a day trip to the town of Tirau. Tirau translates to "land of many cabbage trees" Unfortunately, all of the cabbage trees are gone. The transformation of this town is remarkable!
A little history:
By the end of 1980's Tirau was becoming a victim of the centralisation and urbanisation that had affected so many rural towns in N.Z.
Oxford Court Antiques - it's success was an example for others to follow. The B.N.Z. Bank branch had closed down, as had the local butcher, baker, chemist and Rose Bros General Store which had been a Tirau landmark.
An armed hold up in 1988 was followed by the closure in 1989 of the Tirau Post Office.
This left Tirau with many empty shops and closed buildings.
Entrepreneur Henry Clothier had a vision for Tirau, realising that many people passed through the town each day due to its situation on State Highway One and proximity to many popular tourist destinations.
In 1989 he purchased the empty Rose Bros building and turned it into a large successful antique shop visited by many. .
A Mr Clothier later transformed the old council building into a Conference & Event Centre & during the past decade he has been a leading force in attracting many other businesses to Tirau.
As a result of his vision Tirau is now home to a range of antique & craft shops, a "big sheep" wool gallery, a "big dog" information centre, a wide range of eating places & a medieval castle housing a doll & toy museum.
The first store we visited was an antique shop. This guy and his wife
are the owners. I walked up to him and asked him how long he thought it would
take me to grow my beard as long as his. He replied "a lifetime"! He went on to tell
me "I tried shaving once, I didn't like it, so I haven't shaved since. My wife of almost
40 years has never seen what's under this beard!" "When it gets real scraggly looking, she
trims it up!
When I asked him if would take a picture with me, his face turned red! His wife laughed and
after Reg took the picture, she asked him "Did you charge him for taking the picture?"
The whole theme of Tirau is corrugated metal. This is a welcome sign to a local church.
This building contains the town Visitor Center. Click on this one,
Reg is having a "large tongue" contest with the dog!
Corrugated signs
Chris, Kathryn, Alicia
Ornament time!
We met this guy outside one of the shops. I asked him if he raced this Mini-Morris.
He looked at me and said "No, I just haul it around the country just waiting for dumb
Americans to ask me if I race it! ha ha
He actually spent about 45 minutes with Reg and I explaining the race circuit he competes in.
There are about 40 of these Mini-Morris's racing in New Zealand. This guy is currently ranked
number four in the competition for the New Zealand Cup for Mini-Morris's. He is also
the oldest (age 70) regular competitor. The car generates almost 100 hp and has
a top speed of over 100 mph.
Ok your beard is starting to remind me of when you came into my lunchroom dressed as santa for my 16th birthday.
ReplyDeleteWALK.