Shannon and Sanson

Two small towns that aren't big enough to warrant pages on their own...

Shannon

According to Wikipedia, Shannon is a passing-through point between Palmerston North and Wellington with two cafes, a dairy, an RD1 rural supply store, a pub, a fish and chip shop, a primary school, a Four Square grocer, a petrol station, a native bird and wildlife park, and an art gallery. That would be about right, though some of them occupy the same premises, and even then I wouldn’t count on them all being open at the same time.

Buildings-wise the art gallery is housed in a lovely former Bank of New Zealand, and there’s a gorgeously-restored Post Office. And there's a charming railway station. This is tinytown New Zealand at its best.

Sanson

There’s even less to Sanson than to Shannon, but there is the wonderful Viv’s Kitchen. It just a roadside bakery, but it’s been modelled as a US Diner from the 1950s – and they’ve done a superb job. And the little van outside is gorgeous!