Enjoying Greymouth

At the end of my last post we were at the railway station awaiting the shuttle through to Christchurch. The train is a once a day trip - Christchurch to Greymouth and back about an hour later. And far too expensive for us ordinary folk. So we caught the shuttle bus and it was comfortable enough with very congenial company. People chatted and shared food and one man loaned a blanket to someone who was not dressed warmly enough. 

But before we left there were things to do and places to see.

I went back to the school gates and took a photo and a close up of the poppies that had been crafted and attached to the gates on ANZAC Day.

On ANZAC Day Sis and I met up with our cousin and after lunch we went up to the cemetery at Karoro and put flowers on our grandparents grave and a poppy on Grandad's war plaque. It was nice to see the gravesite looking so good especially with there being no family living there now.

    

From the cemetery we took a short trip to the Karoro beach, it is a stony beach, not sand, and the stones polish up beautifully. We went fossicking - looking for greenstone or pounamu and we found some stones with a green tinge but I doubt it was the pure stuff. We did pick up some pebbles for the Aussies to take home though. Some are such pretty colours.

Karoro beach, you can see the Southern Alps in the far distance and on a good day can pick out Aorangi Mount Cook.

Lorraine and Peter fossicking. There was a lady and her children fossicking as well, she had a hammer and chisel to break stones open, we just spat on ours to see the colour :)

Another day Peter invited Lorraine and I to go to the Mawhera Pa with him. The pa is built on the site of the original Maori settlement, which surprised me as I had always thought it was about a half mile further up the river. So after lunch at one of the local cafes we went on an immersive learning adventure. It was well worth the money and time spent, a world class attraction I would think. I was really impressed with the quality of the exhibits. Below is a collage of some of the interior, small individual storytelling pods, small theatres showing movies/animations of life on the pa and the environs and a model of a Maori chief. Just some of the delights in this amazing cultural centre.

I think it was that same day that we went to the railway station and bought tee shirts for the kids, well I bought tee shirts I don't know what anyone else bought. And then i told the other two to follow me. They indulged me and were pleased they did as I was showing them the pounamu boulder at the end of the platform. It's enormous and one of several scattered around the town. 

 Another night we had dinner at the hotel next to the motel. It was nice to go and have a proper meal after cooking scrap meals at the motel and we spent a very pleasant hour or so just chatting about our respective families and having a proper catchup.

Occasionally Lorraine and I did our own thing when Peter was away touristing :) One day we took a bit of a walk along the flood wall of the Grey River but although it looks like a nice sunny day a cold wind blows down the valley and it wasn't very pleasant. You can see looking upriver that there were grey clouds and although it didn't rain it was cold. 

Then we went and had brunch at a little place just up from the quay. 

We had to wait until after 11am as Sis wanted whitebait, so whitebait we had. $16 each for a very big patty sandwiched between fresh white bread. It was delicious :)

That was pretty much it in Greymouth. It was great to visit our old home town. We went and looked for the houses we lived in but neither of them were there anymore. Even the hospital where we both worked and the nurses home we lived in have been knocked over and rebuilt - I suppose that's what happens after a major earthquake or two.

When we arrived in Christchurch I had about six hours before my flight down to Dunedin so we met up with our Christchurch cousins. Six girls and we chatted for a couple of hours before the cafe closed. That was half the girl cousins, another six are scattered throughout Australia and New Zealand.

That's me at the back on the left. Look at all that white hair, lots of wisdom in that group :)

And now I think I should stop. I don't talk a lot but I seem to forget to stop when I'm writing. 

So, until next time, 

keep well and keep safe.

Diana