Sign of the Kiwi

The Sign of the Kiwi, originally called Toll House, is a small café and shop at Dyers Pass on the road between Christchurch and Governors Bay.

[2] He devoted much of his life to the conservation of bush remnants on the Port Hills on Banks Peninsula, and a key element in his scheme was to make the area accessible to the public.

Whilst most of the public believed that the scenic reserves to be formed were too remote, Ell had a way with landowners and organised some government funding.

In 1909, he decided to form a Summit Road Scenic Reserve Board to help with the task of establishing his dream, but there was tension over their scope.

By 1915, Ell had secured 23 reserves in the Port Hills by buying private land, and none of these projects had the board's prior approval.

The board was opposed to this scheme, but Ell went ahead and the construction of the Toll House, as it was originally called, was started in 1916 with money borrowed from friends and sympathisers.

When the Main Highways Board took over the road between the Takahe and the Bellbird from the Heathcote County Council, motorists started to object.

Ell in turn was incensed, wrote to the Prime Minister William Massey and got the new Commissioner of Crown Lands in Christchurch to appoint him as caretaker of the Sign of the Kiwi.

Unlike the previous operator, she managed to make a profit every year, but suffered a nervous breakdown in 1926, which forced her to move out.

[13] World War II caused the Sign of the Kiwi to be abandoned, and the Department of Lands and Survey closed the building in the 1940s.

[5] Many recreational opportunities exist in the vicinity, and the Sign of the Kiwi is popular with locals and tourists alike.

[17] The repair and structural upgrade, which started in October 2015,[18] cost NZ$760,000, and the Sign of the Kiwi reopened on 23 January 2017.

[21] The Sign of the Kiwi was designed by local architect Samuel Hurst Seager, who became an international authority on the lighting of art galleries.