Peter Sander, standing by the post boxes at the Colville post office. Photo / RNZ, Sally Round
Peter Sander, standing by the post boxes at the Colville post office. Photo / RNZ, Sally Round
By Sally Round of RNZ
The mail always gets through in one of New Zealand’s remotest regions, thanks to some dedicated volunteers who run the local post office.
While rural mail services are shrinking, Colville, in the north-west of the Coromandel Peninsula, has a thriving mail service based in thesmall community’s original post office.
A band of volunteers take turns behind the counter and sort the mail.
Even if it’s just “Mike the Man” for an address, someone will know who it is, according to volunteer Peter Sander.
“We know who’s who, and if it’s addressed wrong, still gets to them.”
Sander used to run a holiday camp in the district, not far from Colville, which consists of a volunteer-run general store and community hub serving a 1500-strong community all the way up to Port Jackson in the north.
Volunteering has been an important part of his life, he told RNZ’s Country Life.
“Sometimes we’ll only get one or two customers in a day … buying stamps or whatever, but that’s okay.”
New Zealand’s postal system underwent sweeping changes in the late 1980s, and many small post offices closed.
But not Colville’s, thanks to the locals.
With a limited rural delivery service, they saw the need for a hub where people could pick up their parcels, mail could be sent, and visitors could buy stamps or a postcard.
“The local people thought, hang on, because they started it right back in 1896, started with telecommunications, and then later on they wanted three times a week mail delivery, because there was a lot of gold mining and farming done in the area.”
Post Office volunteer Peter Sander, sorting mail at the small Colville post office. Photo / RNZ, Sally Round
Sander said right from the early days, the community was involved in setting up the post office, even milling the timber from White Star Station, a local farm, pit sawing and carting the timber and raising money to pay for the building works too.
“They’ve got a paddock there that’s named the post office paddock.”
Visitors are interested in the history of the place, Sander said, and it’s a centre for much more than just post.
Peter Sander at the Colville post office, which sells stamps and memorabilia, catering for locals and visitors alike. Photo / RNZ, Sally Round
“They come in and read the information, sign the visitor’s book, and they can’t believe what we do here.
