Paekākāriki refreshment room

Paekākāriki, north of Wellington, was another well-known refreshment stop on the main trunk line. Although this crowd appears well behaved, one traveller complained that in the refreshment rooms 'a gentleman lost all trace of quality, femininity disappeared, as men and women clawed to reach the counter, there to be served tea or coffee in cups which felt and looked like lumps of lard, and to be served sandwiches, rock cakes and hot pies'.