New Eketahuna loos offer light relief

The interior of the Eketahuna public toilets have been renovated and the exterior is soon to come as part of the town's upgrade. PHOTO/EMILY NORMAN

Attention to detail is the recipe for success in Eketahuna's impending town upgrade, with the community board placing quirky toilet-humoured signs on the backs of cubicle doors in the main street's public loos.

The mastermind of the operation, community board deputy chairwoman Trudi Hull, said she came up with five alternative slogans that encourage visitors to stay "just a little bit longer" in the town.

On the backs of the toilet cubicle doors are posters promoting the friendliness of the town. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

"It's just a bit of a quirky thing, bit of humour, and every sign is different," she said.

"One of them says 'thanks for having a wee break in Eketahuna' -- stuff like that.

"It's just the way my mind works really. While I'm hosing the yard I just think of these things, so that was that.

"Luckily everyone thought they were great as well because if no one else liked it I wouldn't have carried on through with it but I thought it was a bit different and quirky."

The signs have already reaped positive feedback from tourists arriving in town.

"There was a Welsh couple that were only just passing through Eketahuna, but because they stopped at the toilets and read the sign 'Eketahuna is busting to meet you', they decided to stop here for lunch," Mrs Hull said.

"They said it was the best sign ever and that's pretty cool."

Mrs Hull said the idea behind the signs was to promote Radio Eketahuna, the station that the toilet speakers play, and to "just let people know that we're pleased to meet them".

Tararua District councillor Tracey Collis said she had stopped a couple of tourists "just to gauge how they felt about the signs".

"One of them just cracked up laughing and said, I thought they were very punny," she said. "So they've obviously been received in the light-hearted humorous way that they were meant and they're a real talking point."