Saturday 24 August 2013

I am a 'Coaster'

I am not a native southerner,
I am a 'Coaster'.
That is, I hail from the West Coast of the South Island. 
It is a rugged area with three main towns, 
and a quite a few smaller towns 
(which might be called villages in another land).
I am a small town girl.

Taramakau River on the West Coast
It is quite a beautiful area.
It is also quite a depressed area in that
 there are not a lot of job opportunities. 
Some of us left to get on in life.
The natives are very parochial 
and once a 'coaster', always a 'coaster'.

part of the CBD of my home town

So when I met and married my GKB 
we ended up living in his home town, 
which is a city. Not large by world standards,
 a provincial city, but it was mind boggling to me.
We were also further south 
and it took me a long time to acclimatise. 
But this is a beautiful city, 
and I now love living here. 
I just wish it were a little warmer!!
I'd like to show you a few photo's we took 
a few years ago of some 
of the buildings about the city.

First Church, Presbyterian

Apartments, the front building was a church in another life

Apartments and business premises

Flats and offices

Business premises and flats near the CBD

Back of the Town Hall and clock

Restaurant and apartments

You will see that there are a lot of architectural styles,
we also have more modern concrete and glass structures
and it all adds to the richness, beauty
 and diversity of our lovely city. 
I hope you've enjoyed having a little look around 
where I live. 
No, that's not quite right, this is our city 
but we live in a small town on the edge. 
Just 20 minutes in the car.
We were a borough in our own right when
 I moved here but now we are a suburb
and the boundaries are getting blurred.

I'm going to wish you all a goodnight now and go to bed. 
It is getting late on a Saturday night, yawnnnn.

Have a great week,
Diana

7 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness what beautiful architecture!! I would love to live in a city full of history! Where I live all the old buildings get knocked off after so many years very sad but true. Love it.

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  2. Isn't the architecture just marvellous! I loved the south Island most of all Diana.
    It's wonderful having a blog-friend who showcases a beautiful country where I have so many happy and fond memories from our trips there.
    Rose

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  3. HI Diana! Oh, what a lovely town and it's a good thing you're a coaster as I see some pretty steep streets you can coast down! :) I'm so silly. Thank you for popping in to see me.
    be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  4. I love reading these sort of posts. Seeing what others see of the places they live...not the tourist attractions, but just what interests a local resident. Your city is Lovely Diana!

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  5. I enjoyed the walking tour of your city. It's always so nice to see where bloggy friends live, and you're so very far away from us up here in Canada.

    Glad your GKB is on the mend. I hope your library gets my daughter's book in.

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  6. Dearest Diana,
    Oh My, so sorry my belated comment. I missed your post in my dashboard again.
    Haha, 'I'm a coaster'. At first I wondered what you meant. I smiled a little with your friend's comment about "steep streets you can coast down", as I thought it was well-said. Yes, I enjoyed your picture or tour of your city♡♡♡ Pretty and Gorgeous church etc!!!

    PS> There were 2 words a bit impressed me today. "parochial" and "acclimatise"; maybe as a not English speaking person, I thought they expressed your feeling well.
    I hope you re enjoying spring soon. Getting a bit cooler here, p;)
    Sending you lots of love and hugs from Japan, xoxo Miyako*

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  7. I enjoyed seeing some of the town--it is always so interesting. Keep sharing different parts of your life. I would like to hear if you have supermarkets? or what your shops are like. You may have posted on this before and I may have missed it.

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