Postcrossing meets in Taupō: It's like a pen pal on SnapChat

Brenda Cuff from Pahiatua organised New Zealand's first postcrossing meeting in Taupō on Saturday. Photo / Rachel Canning

Years ago a trip to the letterbox was exciting. Now it's a chore. But not for postcrossers!

Sending and receiving a postcard is having a worldwide revival, and last Saturday the New Zealand branch of Postcrossing had its inaugural meeting in Taupō.

Organiser Brenda Cuff from Pahiatua said they arranged to meet in Taupō because it is central and more than 2000 New Zealanders were registered.

"I would describe postcrossing as like having a pen pal on SnapChat. And it's so nice to get something in the letterbox that isn't a bill!" says Brenda.

Members begin by registering at postcrossing.com and then request an address to send their first postcard to another member. They then receive a postcard from another postcrosser. The process is repeated the when they feel like sending another postcard.

When you request an address, a little bit of information about the person receiving the postcard is given. Gerry Edwards from Wellington says the idea is to write a few lines that are meaningful to the person receiving the postcard.

"I volunteer at the animal shelter and that prompts quite a response, even though it's only one day a week. What's on in the garden is another popular subject," said Gerry.

Brenda says she gets quite a few postcards from school children.

Janet Spring from Eketāhuna said her family laughed when she first started postcrossing.

"But when I get a postcard, they all want to know where it's from."

Gerry likes to add in some te reo Māori to her postcards, because she says she often receives postcards in a foreign language.

"People do this for different reasons. Some people request the card has an image of a specific topic. I get asked for erotica cards quite often. Others like getting fancy stamps," says Gerry.

Getting hold of interesting postcards and stamps is all part of it, as everyone talks about getting cards from op shops, museums, tourist information centres and hand-making cards.

A little-known fact is that stamps do not expire, and Brenda has some beauties that are decades old. Three cent stamps with wonderful artwork, from botanicals to Andy Warhol pop art.

"As long as they are unused, then they are valid. So many old stamps are still in circulation, you can buy them on Trade Me for about 30 per cent of the current retail value," says Brenda.

Julian Atkinson from the United Kingdom was already travelling around New Zealand, so he timed his trip to be in Taupō for the first postcrossing meeting. Gerry actually sent Julian a postcard last year.

"Thirty-eight million postcards have been sent through postcrossing.com so far, so what are the chances!" said Gerry.