\u201cMy primary thing was to make sure I got the post boxes right because sometimes they\u2019d walk in and assume that you\u2019d know exactly which [one] and reach for it, just like a habit. It took me a month to get around that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The post office was built in 1886 and is now owned by Heritage New Zealand.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny architect in the world can design the most amazing new-age building, but these ones never date,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are the heart and soul of this area. These buildings are robust, they\u2019re resilient, they tell a story like many of the characters in this area, and they take the knocks with time as well, so it makes them more attractive.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the heater cranked to ward off the frosty morning air, there was much to catch the eye and pique a visitor\u2019s curiosity.<\/p>\n
Cameron said it took about 10 letters for the back of a stamp to taste bad, but they had a special roller to dampen them and save the taste buds.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get young children through who\u2019ve never licked the back of a stamp and put it on a postcard,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose kind of things connect us with where we\u2019ve come from and how we\u2019ve evolved over the years, and the way the communication has evolved over the years and trying to really keep it alive and well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Val Butcher retired as Ophir postmistress in August 2025 after 26 years in the job.<\/p>\n
Cameron heard about the role on social media and has since enjoyed getting to know the locals and their habits, as well as visitors who called in.<\/p>\n
They loved to add the original rubber postmark or frank to their mail on the corner of the stamp, she said.<\/p>\n
Despite NZ Post closing service counters and cutting delivery days in other parts of the country, locals said the Ophir Post Office offered much more as a community and information hub and one of the South Island\u2019s most photographed buildings.<\/p>\n
A collection of old phones at the Ophir Post Office. Photo \/ RNZ, Tess Brunton<\/p>\n
Ophir resident Sara said she would probably need to drive 20 minutes to Alexandra if the post office closed because she doubted a courier would service the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t be without it, really,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we didn\u2019t have this, we wouldn\u2019t be getting our mail because we\u2019re actually rural, so we get free post boxes here and obviously good conversation when they\u2019re not nosying at the history.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ophir Post Office still has the original safe, set in concrete. Photo \/ RNZ, Tess Brunton<\/p>\n
Sara said it was more than just a post office, especially during the pandemic.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d just knock on the window, postmistress Val back then would look out and go \u2018Oh, there\u2019s your mail on the windowsill\u2019 and everybody would be distancing, but we\u2019d still be having a chat,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Cash, an 11-year-old Labrador, popped in with his owner, Sean Beale, eagerly picking up his newspaper and carrying it around, tail wagging.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s pumped. Any time he goes into a building where he\u2019s excited, he has to pick something up with his mouth. It can be a shoe, a piece of paper, anything,\u201d Beale said.<\/p>\n
Local resident Cash loves to collect the paper and parcels. Photo \/ RNZ, Tess Brunton<\/p>\n
The post office enhanced Ophir\u2019s community feel, Beale said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy family lives up north in Auckland, and you mention to them that you need to travel from your home to a post office to collect your mail, everyone is just blown away by it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a really unique thing, and I guess it is for this time and age.\u201d<\/p>\n
Working in a historic post office was not without its quirks.<\/p>\n
In spring, Cameron must temporarily close the two brass post slots outside the building after finding more than just letters.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time I went to open the box, I\u2019d just be met with sticks and debris and stuff like that \u2018cos the damn starlings had started nesting in there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Cameron said her role as Ophir postmistress was a joy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a really humbling experience,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been embraced wholeheartedly by the community and very welcomed and included, right from the get-go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cameron said a trip to Ophir and its historic post office was worth writing home about, and visitors were always welcome.<\/p>\n
– RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cMy primary thing was to make sure I got the post boxes right because sometimes they\u2019d walk in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":497749,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[6796,6276,78,117,111,43,139,69,3272,6270,34962,248841,3117,248842,6795],"class_list":["post-497748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-brunton","tag-gets","tag-in","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-nzs","tag-office","tag-oldest","tag-ophir","tag-post","tag-postmistress","tag-tess"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}