Summer high for village business

In Norsewood, every day is ice cream day, says Scandi Superette owner Henk Domper.

As the summer season has hit the village, ice creams have been popular but Mr Domper said that was quite normal.

"Ice cream sales are always very good, even in the middle of winter. I always say it is ice cream day every day."

Mr Domper said there has been an increase in visitors to Norsewood over the holiday period and the business was doing well.

"We have a lot of people call in for petrol. They have travelled over Highway 50 and by the time they reach us, they are quite desperate for petrol and you often hear them say thank goodness we made it."

Another attraction in his shop are the lollies. Mr Domper says they're a point of difference.

"Children and adults love coming in and selecting from the bins. In fact, the adults are worse and take longer to choose than the children do. We get a lot of people travelling from Dannevirke and Waipukurau just for the lollies and they often spend $20 or more."

Visitor numbers to the Information Centre have also been pretty good, says volunteer, Ness Harper. In the first few weeks of January, 176 people, plus 38 overseas visitors, have called in for information.

"We have had mostly Scandinavian people who come in and look at cemetery records to find relatives and maps of the district.

"We also have had a mixture of other foreigners which has been great," Mrs Harper said.

"I really enjoy working here. You meet a lot of interesting people, plus it keeps me out of mischief," she said.

Cafe Norsewood owners Gary and Robyn Yearbury said they were delighted with the way business was going.

"There have been a lot of overseas tourists calling in and we have a very good loyal clientele who are regulars. Over the past few days there have been a lot more families through, so people are starting to move around, probably heading home," Mr Yearbury said.

He believed people were more optimistic about the economy than they were a few months ago and hoped things would come right soon.

"We have been here for six years now and the secret to success is service with a smile and consistency. People are starting to move around a bit more and are stopping to sit down for a meal and a cuppa. Long may it last," he said.