T
dining table at Shells Restaurant holds more than fine
cuisine. The diner gets to peer beneath the surface
to a treasure trove, a solid bed of shells, sand and
sealife. These shells tell a story, and that is a real treasure of
the restaurant.
Long time Tairua resident Enid Turner had a passion. Shells.
She collected in the fifties. She collected in the sixties. She
collected her entire life. Enid found them herself – Australia’s
beaches and Grand Barrier Reef were her favourites – and
she traded for them with collectors worldwide.
Her collection soon outgrew their home, so she and husband
Austin built an extra room to display the collection. Enid
loved nothing more than to entertain and meet the public,
explaining the details of each shell and where it came from,
so it was no surprise when that extra room soon became a
newsworthy museum, attracting visitors from far and wide.
(See old
Herald News
story at left with a press photo showing
Enid proudly holding some shells.)
“I have exchanged shells with people all over the world”, Enid
tells a
Herald
reporter in 1970, “but my trip to Australia gave
me the incentive to build this place [the museum] and want to
show it to the public.”
Enid was devastated when, on one of those trips, a crate
of coveted shells she shipped to herself was lost and never
recovered. She also shared with the reporter that the shells
from Port Douglas were as beautiful as the articles she had
read about them claimed. Of course, that was over 40 years
ago and now, due to the over-collecting of many species,
The arylic enbedded shells done so long ago still look fresh
and watery after many years of use. The large wall montage
frames two of the 24 tables in use at the restaurant.
A proud Enid Turner in 1993 with the Turner family – Grandson
David, who was managing the restaurant at the time, son
Roger and wife Pat. The coffee table shown with shells is
made from cabin timber salvaged by noted diver John Young,
a diving buddy of Kelly Tarlton, from a shipwreck in the
Marlborough Sounds.
shell collecting is discouraged and even banned on some
Australian beaches.
Enid’s collection included rare varieties like the voluptuous
shaped harp shell and the
Turbo marmoratus
, known as
the great green turban, fished as a source of mother of
pearl; also the rare paper nautilus – not really a shell but the
delicate ‘egg casing’ from a breed of octopus.
The museum remained open for almost 20 years, until, as son
Roger says, “Mum just ran out of steam.” The management
of the museum became too much for her, and Enid’s beloved
collection was carefully boxed and stored by Roger and wife
Pat – stored for another twenty years. Pat tells us Enid even
placed little notes in most of the shells to tell its story.
ENID’S SHELLS ARE RESURRECTED
When Roger and Pat moved permanently to Tairua in 1972,
they purchased land and soon built the Pacific Harbour Motor
Lodge. When tourist activity started to flourish (thanks to
the enthusiasm of Germans), Roger decided to give Tairua
its first fine dining restaurant, which they opened in 1993. In
designing the restaurant, Roger and Pat decided to unbox
the shells and make his mother’s collection the theme and
centerpiece of their restaurant. The name of the restaurant?
‘Shells’, of course!
They operated Shells themselves for a few years, with son
David as manager, but since then they have leased the facility,
with the stipulation “the shells stay.” And so they have.
by Tovi Daly
Treasured Shells
BACKGROUND SHELL & LAMP PHOTOS BY MICHELLE McEWAN www.michellemcewanphotography.com
