Turquoise Cafe

This cafe popped up out-of-the-blue! We were en route to Roxburgh yesterday when I saw a flash of blue out my side window and the word ‘cafe’. This is Ettrick orchard country and I hadn’t seen anything bright blue before. I asked Nigel to turn around and sure enough there’s a new cafe (only been open for six weeks). The old red and white orchard shed has been re-purposed into a beautiful blue cafe 🙂

Very bright, cheery place to relax and lovely food at the counter. I chose a delicious lemon curd and cream cheese muffin and Nigel had fruit cake. Hot drinks come in nice big mugs and you can sit back and enjoy the country peace and quiet. Bliss!

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True Blue

— how could you resist blue like this?

And for the record we never ended up making it to Roxburgh, haha.

Turquoise Cafe from the driveway (Roxburgh end of the building).

The bright blue side, parallel to the highway, is very eye-catching!

Hard to miss seeing the new cafe unless you’re travelling with your eyes shut.

Oh, those flowers … blooming beautiful!

Next is Nigel’s photo (stitched). Click on the photo to enlarge.

The owner explained to me how difficult it had been to decide on a name when she was inspired by the colour of her new sideboard cabinet (inside the cafe). The flowers on the cabinet look familiar don’t they? (see photos above).

We parked at the back of the cafe by the apple trees. Photo by Nigel.

What more do you need? So bright and cheerful. LOVE.

The pennants above the counter are special – these birds are either extinct (the huia in the centre) or rare/endangered like the mohua (LHS) or red-crowned parakeet / kakariki (RHS). As an aside, I’ve read that mohua are in the Blue Mountains, Tapanui.

Click on photo to enlarge.

Various apple varieties and occasional vege sign.

I lived on an orchard when very young. Apples were packed into wooden boxes and big labels like these were stuck on the front of each apple box. I’d often ride back to the packing shed sitting in an empty apple box (on a trailer, towed behind the tractor).

‘Red band’ gumboots are iconic farmer footwear in New Zealand. Kiddies boots in an inside corner, adult boots sitting in the outside porch.

Retro apple poster and orchard equipment.

Took this just before we left, the mountain ridgeline clearly visible behind the cafe.

We’ll be regular visitors to Turquoise Cafe as its just the right distance when we want a break from Tapanui, a lovely drive and a great cafe destination.

Further Information

Facebook page:   TurQuoise CaFe

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Text and photos by Liz unless otherwise attributed; Exploring Colour (2020)