The old Tin Shed
A new shelter at Aporo Rd is a replica of a ‘tin shed’ that stood nearby for 100 years. The shelter was in poor condition and created a blind corner, so the Nelson Tasman Cycle Trails Trust, Tasman District Council, local bus company, the local schools and the Tasman Area Community Association agreed that the shelter be re-built and shifted to its current position.
During the process of moving, stories emerged about the integral role the shelter played in the local community. It was an important meeting place for locals, and contained a notice board for advertising the weekly films at Mapua and other community events. Many of the shelter’s users carved their names as they waited for the bus and the seat in this new shelter contains this ‘art-work.’
People who lived in the area remember home deliveries of meat from the Lummis Bros, bread from the Tasman bakery, and fruit and vegetables from Smithys. They also recall that the Newmans bus went through to Nelson each day delivering parcels and the Stutchberys Motors bus took passengers to Mapua School and functions in Mapua Hall.
The shelter was where people waited for transport to Māpua, and the wharf at Māpua was where the burgeoning apple industry’s produce was exported. As more people came to live in Māpua, social occasions began to occur and shops opened.
In the 1920s an old packing shed was converted as a gathering place for the population and ‘everything’ happened in the hall – apple packing competitions, annual flower shows, and dances. Movies were held every Tuesday night with Sutchberys bus going around the orchards and picking up the workers.
Mapua hosted an annual fruit show and packing championships and rapidly became an important destination for athletics, netball, cricket, basketball, and other sports.
Through the 1940s to 1960s, the whole district would attend dances, which would carry on until the early hours of the morning. Saturday nights had Mapua Hall rocking and the hall suppers were famous for the giant club sandwiches, and soft pink lamingtons overflowing with cream, that were served.
Today, Mapua is a thriving tourist centre; it has a combination of restaurants, boutiques, cafes, wine bars, breweries, and galleries, many of which are housed in the old cool-store buildings. The Great Taste Trail goes through the centre of Mapua and is an excellent spot to stop before catching the ferry
to Rabbit Island.
