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There’s one in every town. Its shelves are laden with crystals, dragon statues, incense, angels and salt lamps.
All of them feel untouched by time. Not only do they seem largely unchanged since your last visit – have those ceramic dragons been sitting on the shelf since 1994? – but the vibes can’t be placed in a single decade. There’s always a whiff of Labyrinth (1986), some swinging-sixties bohemianism, Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 album Rumours and the new-age global village revival from the turn of the millennium.
And Tolkien. Always Tolkien. Rivendell is the elven stronghold of Middle Earth and also (somewhat confusingly) the name of two different New Zealand retailers: Rivendell Shop, established in 1976, and Rivendell World, launched in 2006. Both sell tarot cards, dreamcatchers, aromatherapy products and (of course) crystals.
They have plenty of company. This kind of store is a surprisingly enduring fixture of New Zealand’s retail landscape, considering the well-documented challenges of brick-and-mortar shops in recent years. Naming conventions are fairly explicit, albeit fantastical, with signage proclaiming Crafty Dragon, Gaia Gems, Crystal Rain and Little Gem Tirau within. They cater to a wide range of clientele. In a Venn diagram of tastes and interests, they sit at the intersection of backpackers, wiccans, bogans, wellness acolytes, stoners, fantasy fans and mindful manifesters.
In contrast to the slick efficiency of mass retail and chain stores, each crystal-dragon-incense store has idiosyncratic touches and local flavour. These are owner-operated businesses with handwritten welcome signs. Perhaps that’s their secret. Magically thwarting the much-documented decline of small-town main streets, you’re likely to find them across the motu. Road trips mandate a stop at Heaven and Earth in Tairua, The Sanctuary in Masterton and Paeroa’s Earth Angel Magic for incense, rose quartz or a trip down memory lane.
Nobody can cross the same river twice (so the saying goes), but one can enter an untouched-by-time crystal shop and be transported back to a past life. As you wander amidst the angels and incense, Enigma’s ‘Return to Innocence’ comes on the stereo and you’re suddenly somewhere else. Perhaps freshly returned from Koh Phangan with a bulging backpack, dreaming of a visit to the far-flung Freak Street of Kathmandu from your suburban bedroom, reading Goop in 2016 or revisiting hazy memories of raves and Interailing. Maybe they remind you of driving to The Gathering, or the smell of tea and joss sticks at your aunty’s house in the Coromandel. Or Crystal Mountain.
A honking ute breaks the stupor. Time to hit the road.
