Stratford and Eltham

Well, what an interesting day we have had today!

Our first port of call this morning was the town of Stratford, about 20 minutes south of  Inglewood.

Stratford is a small, well presented town of Dutch heritage and it’s main claim to fame is the clock tower. Four times a day figures of the Shakepearean Romeo and Juliet appear on the balcony. Unfortunately our timing wasn’t great for this and we did not see them.

The public toilets were next to the tower and they were decorated in a similar way.

Bruce and I were both impressed with Stratford’s Hall of Remembrance. Inside this hall were the photos of every serviceman (yes, there were no women) who died from any of the wars. In addition, beneath every photo were their ranks, and a brief description of how they died (killed in action, died of wounds, died of illness, or missing presumed dead), where, and when. It made the loss of these men so much more real and was quite humbling.

We continued on our journey to Eltham, which was only about 10 minutes drive away. In Eltham we were keen to see the Pioneer Village, the Toy Wall and the Mainland Cheese Shop. I would have to say none of these were what we expected to see, and the town of Eltham was definitely NOT what we expected, but more about that later.

The Pioneer Village was the first attraction we came to. The person welcoming us was convinced that this would be a much better experience than Shanty Town on the South Island. In some ways she was correct and in others not so.

The site covers 10 acres and is built around the original homestead on the site. All the other buildings were transported there. There were several cottages of different eras.

Some I could probably survive living in, but in others it would be more difficult. The original homestead was positively luxurious compared with the cottages. It even had a kauri bath tub!

While the Pioneer Village had a lot of old buildings, and a lot of items on display, there was plenty of evidence of maintenance that needed to be done. We could see water leaking through rooves, rot in window frames, paint peeling off etc., so I walked out of the village feeling sad.

After purchasing the nicest date scones we have had all trip from their cafe, we continued on our path into Eltham.

We tried, first of all, to find the toy wall, but there were no signs anywhere and directions gained from Google maps were totally incorrect. In the end we gave up looking and started to just look at the town instead. Most of the buildings are very old and while some had been refurbished, many were in a poor state of repair. What really amused us were the signs in many shops stating their opening hours (which were very limited) and giving a phone number to call if you wanted them to come and open up so you could purchase something!

There was one outdoor courtyard that had some beautiful mosaics. The largest ones were of tiles but the smaller mosaics were made of paint dots.

We came across a very open interior design store that actually had some people in it so we asked for directions.

The Toy Wall was just around the corner – a quick walk so we set off to have a look. It was not what was expected – much larger for one thing, and complete with fairy castles for another.

The wall started when the owner of the property found a lost toy. She popped it on her garden wall but the wind kept blowing it off, so she cemented it onto the wall. Other children then asked her to add their old toys to the wall.

The wall now goes for about 20 metres and is maintained by the Lionesses.

We had also obtained directions to the Mainland Cheese Shop  so we easily found our way there after seeing the Toy Wall. We could not understand why none of these places were sign posted! We managed to buy several blocks of cheese for a good price but again were surprised that more was not done with this shop. We expected tasting opportunities for various cheeses, and video or sign board presentations on how cheese is made.

We dubbed Eltham as the town where no-one is home. We were amazed at the decrepit old buildings that could be made beautiful again, and the beauty of those that had been restored!

Throughout the day we had many cold showers, and got only one brief glimpse of Mt Taranaki. There was clearly snow on top, but the mountain was quickly hidden by clouds of rain or snow. The weather, and the decay evident in Eltham made us happy to travel on, but we continued feeling amazed at our experiences.