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