Galloway woman Harriet Cameron has taken on the mantle of postmistress at the Ophir Post Office, New Zealand’s oldest running post office, and is the latest in a long run of postal workers dating back to the building’s opening in 1886.
"My first official week at the post office has been simply awesome. I’ve met a handful of local identities and I’m starting to match names to faces," Ms Cameron said.
"It’s a very homely building and I am enjoying discovering the history."
Mastering the pigeonhole mail system together with unfamiliar street addresses had made for some early challenges but each day the sorting was getting faster.
She was enjoying the learning curve and seeing how important the post office was to the community, Ms Cameron said.
"It’s essential. The post office is the hub of communications — a place of local information and enjoyment," she said.
Nothing much had changed since the building opened 139 years ago and that was one of the attractions for her.
"I truly think I was born a century too late. I love the era the post office building represents — a time when communities were strong because each household had big families and farms employed many people. All things were made with care and made to last. I love engaging with people, enjoying a smile and a banter."
The post office opened when Ophir was a gold mine town with a population of about 600.
It has a reputation for long-serving staff — recently retired postmistress Val Butcher was in the role for 26 years and Mrs M.E. Drake, known as the "grand old lady of Ophir", retired in 1969 after running the post office since 1946.
The post office, with its distinctive schist finish, is cared for by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga. It is one of the most photographed buildings in the South Island.
Tourists were the modern gold for the town, Ms Cameron said.
"Ophir is a sitting gold mine in terms of the local economy. It has much untapped potential which, carefully managed, will bring many visitors over the bridge. Through social media and targeted merchandise, and creating more events in and around Ophir, the people will come."
It is not Ms Cameron’s first time running a post office. While living on Stewart Island she was post mistress/travel agent at the Stewart Island Post Office/Flight Centre.
"I’m a country girl at heart and have always gone back to Central Otago, where I’m from — that’s where I feel at home," she said. — Allied Media
