______________________ SOUTHERN SOJOURN (3) ______________________

Tuatapere lies on the scenic route from Lake Manapouri to Riverton. It is a small rural town of around five hundred people. You can read all about Tuatapere here : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuatapere

While passing through we saw an interesting combination Shop / Museum / Tearooms / Dairy - (A dairy in NZ is a place where you can purchase many supermarket items including those staples loved by all over weight Kiwis: icecream, milkshakes and pies).

When we walked through the door we were greeted by the sound of that old crooner Jim Reeves coming from an old LP record spinning on an even older record player.
 

I could cope with Jim Reeves but I did wonder at the coat hanger dangling from the raised record player turntable lid that was festooned with key-less key rings.

On the pavement was obviously what the shop owner thought would be a great tourist draw card - Prams! A strategy that I guess worked as it made us curious and drew us in.

My father was production manager for Oxley Prams in Christchurch during the 1960s so I instantly recognised the style and the vintage. These prams were made by Vantage, a rival brand.

My dad would occasionally bring home pram wheels for us to use so we could make box carts (But that's an entirely different and future blog post).

Amongst the bric a brac and a very large old wood stove were a selection of home made jams. We bought a jar of strawberry and another of blackberry to spread on Northland toast.

While Christine negotiated the purchase of the Hokey Pokey ice creams I took a selfie. We congratulated ourselves on our restraint regarding the pies and milkshakes.