Great place for the tourist

Press, 11 April 1979, Page 19

Great place for the tourist

New Zealand is a great place for tourism but not always for the tourist. Tudor House hopes to try, in its modest way, to remedy that fault for tourists passing through MidCanterbury. Mr and Mrs Mike Vickers plan to offer tourists more than the fast-foods and clinical atmosphere of too many New Zealand hotels and restaurants. They hope that their only take-aways will be of a traditional Tudor home, with simple, nourishing food in pleasant “olde worlde" surroundings. .lust as important, Tudor House will offer plentiful parking spaces and 11 ha of ground for visitors to stretch their legs. Mr Vickers said it would be quite some time before the landscaping was completed. “I hope eventually to have a new hedge around the place, as was common for large country houses in Tudor times, together with birch, ash and oak trees,” he said.

The problem is that the open country surounding Tudor House is not conducive to the growing of these varieties straight away. In the ■ meantime, the Vickers have planted bluegums, Douglas firs, cedars and pines , to provide shelter. The house will eventually have, a 1.6 ha garden, decorative pond and wildlife sanctuary. “Long term, we wou'd like to have a kiwi house and we have already started making inquiries in that direction. We also want to have old English varieties of sheep, goats and pigs,” Mr Vickeis said. Eventually, he wou'd like to have many breeds of sheep on the property. “Imagine someone coming here from Tokyo, they have probably never seen

a sheep up close. All they would see from a coach is paddock after paddock full of the animals,” Mr Vickers said. “I would like to have many varieties here so the tourist could Stop and get a close look while they stretch their legs and look around.” Mr Vickers said he already had a number of Arapawa Island and Old English goats, which in themselves were something of an attraction. Also, in keeping with the outdoor theme, is the. provision of rustic outdoor furniture during summer. Tourists and other travellers will be able to eat their meals outside when the weather is warm enough. The Vickers have planted lavender plants (“very popular things around Tudor Houses”) so

that the diners will have an authentic Tudor aroma to dine by. Other outdoor exhibits include stocks, used for punishing petty criminals, a cream separator and hand water pump.