Coal River Heritage Park

 

Next to the wharf and waterfront in town is the Coal River Heritage Park. It sits beside the Grey River and was created by the Greymouth Heritage Society in conjunction with the Grey District Council. It has views out the river mouth, the Tasman Sea and towards the Southern Alps.

This short walk tells the story of the town's coal mining history - many boats would've pulled up to this wharf to pick up their order of coal which would've been taken to other places around New Zealand.

Some leftover railway tracks and electric cranes still sit here today as an example of what was used back then.

And this building on top of the hill has inside some explanations and history about it's past. Coal was an important export from the 1870s and by 1881 the population of Greymouth was bigger than Hokitika.

Here's a short video I found on youtube about someone elses visit to this spot. Linking up with Skywatch Friday, All Seasons and Tom's signs. 

Nelson Creek

Above is the Nelson Creek pub, about 30 minutes outside of Greymouth. Such a warm Autumn day when we stopped there and hardly anyone about except an old gentleman sitting outside his cottage fixing something. This part of the West Coast, like most of it has gold mining history starting from around 1865 - people have been known to find bits and pieces in the river (below).  

B walked off to explore the swing bridge which was further up the river but I stayed down on the ground having a paddle in the water.

Linking up with Through my lens, Blue Monday, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Horses

We drove out to Reefton last week and while we were walking through the town I saw this mural depicting the town's coal and gold mining history on the side of one of the old buildings. Painted by Jean Davidson in 2021 it looks so lifelike, especially the horse.

Linking up with Mural Monday. 

Loitering

This was taken shortly before I bought my house. Real estate prices here aren't too bad - you can buy a decent property under $300,000 NZD, much cheaper than other places like Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Whangarei etc. House prices have come down a bit in the last year though but I'm still wondering how people can afford the more expensive ones.

Linking up with Weekend reflections and the Weekend roundup.

Tornado!

Taken out my lounge window morning after the storm

Earlier this week we had a forecast of heavy rain which we did end up having overnight but we also had hail and a bit of wind but apparently several businesses in town were struck by a mini tornado where roofs were ripped off and power went out. We are fortunate we are 5 minutes out of town and considered to be semi-rural so we seem to get away with most of the bad stuff. Lately it's started to get a bit more chilly in the mornings. Today is the start of the Autumn Equinox and we are starting to see the colours changing on the trees. This morning I actually put the fire on as it was 6 degrees celsius when I got up to let the cats out - I think we might have a really nippy winter this year.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and All Seasons.

The cat's miaow

Bruno and Floki

When I first bought this house last November I purchased online a small cat tower as back then we only had Mr Cat and Bruno. Now that we also have Tiger and Floki we also have 2 more cat towers making 3 altogether. Sometimes Bruno and Floki will squeeze onto the same bed and groom each other, Mr Cat has her own bed on the floor and Tiger has taken up the lowest one.

We have expanded on the vege garden outside. Now we have 2 red chilli plants, various mini Spinach (bright lights) rainbow chard, some calendula flowers and tea tree (manuka) growing in amongst them and the tomatoes in order to attract bees.

And I finally finished this wool crochet blanket that I posted to my niece last week, it's big enough to fit a single sized bed, from what I hear she loved it. My next project involves me making green granny squares to eventually sew together.

Linking up with Through my lens, Ruby Tuesday, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Surfing

I spotted this very purple mural inside the concrete made public toilets in Westport last time we were there. I don't know who the artist is but it shows a girl on a surfboard, weirdly enough I haven't seen anyone surfing at the beaches around here, maybe I'm just not there at the right time.

Linking up with Mural Monday. 

Keeping it real

Westport - a small town where everyone knows each other - where you can stop and have a chat with a random person you might see on the street. Maybe we need more of this. Keep it real. A quiet St Patrick's Day came and went yesterday but today is my 52nd birthday and let me tell you that I'm feeling my age. Sometimes it would be nice to sleep in alot longer.

Linking up with Weekend reflections and the Weekend roundup.

Leisuretime

Part of the Greymouth railway station is services via the TranzAlpine - this is where people can board the train from for their journey to Christchruch. Alot of tourist buses stop here and drop them off for their stay in town. 

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's signs. 

The Vintage Collective

So last week R (my daughter) and I finally popped into a local shop named "The Vintage Collective" that has been open for a while. Any 2nd hand shops in town aren't that great, in fact we haven't found anything really that has anything decent...until now.

I sometimes collect vintage stuff but it has to be something that will go with my house interior or something I can use. 

 

 

 

 

 

In the end I bought an old Brownie camera, a green tea cup and saucer and a lovely 1960s pea green coat. The prices were pretty reasonable too.

Linking up with Through my lens, Ruby Tuesday, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Porky's takeaways

Remember back to when my parents visted from the North Island last Spring and we visited Hokitika? 

I found this photo showing one of the local murals on the side of the takeaways that we ordered whitebait fritters from. Named "Porky's Takeaways" it's very apt that the mural shows a fish considering that's what they are apparently famous for cooking.

Linking up with Mural Monday. 

Just hanging around

Last time we visited Westport with my parents I took more photos around town to add to my collection. This one outside the old Municipal Chambers which was built in the 1940s showing a family eating lunch and chatting. The sky looked ominous but I don't think it's unusual for them to get rain there.

Linking up with Weekend reflections and the Weekend roundup.

Restaurant+Bar

It's another day in very early Autumn for us West Coasters. Last week on my wander around town I caught this shot of a cafe worker sweeping the outside wall of this restaurant+bar in the town square. It's nice now that we have less Summer action - people are starting to order firewood for Winter. Last weekend I met up with Gwyneth who is here with her husband touring New Zealand from Scotland. Very cool to see other bloggers in person.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's signs. 

Tunnel Terrace Walk

One of the other local walks in between Stafford and Hokitika is the Tunnel Terrace Walk which originally were used for goldmining. The walk was about 20 minutes tops - the original entrace has been closed off due to rock falls so after walking about 100m up the road from the carpark we found another entrance. The photos are below that show the native bush, paths and plants etc.

 Linking up with Through my lens, Ruby Tuesday, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Speights Mural

We had lunch last week at the local Speights Ale House here in Greymouth, I will post photos from that soon but I spotted this mural on one of the walls next to the bar. I'm not sure who painted it, it could be a corporate thing as they have other restaurants around Aotearoa but it does what it's suppose to do...it looks old and historical to fit with the building.

Linking up with Mural Monday. 

India Today

 

I found this old shot I took over Winter about 5 years ago when we lived in Tauranga of one of the many restaurants along the waterfront. I don't know if it's still there but it looks a bit more authentic with the old rickshaw out on front of it.

Linking up with Weekend reflections and the Weekend roundup.

Changes...

Last week after my haircut appointment I wandered through a few streets in town to see what was going on. Temperatures are starting to cool down here with us being at the end of Summer and slowly going into early Autumn. This street scene is next to the town square, there is a coffee truck to the right named "MASH" like the old 1970s tv series, it's usually popular in the weekends when there is alot more people about, most are at work during the week.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday, All Seasons and Tom's signs.