Shantytown on a quiet day

There's not a heck of a lot to do at Greymouth, West Coast of the South Island but what there is should include a trip to ShantyTown. I hadn't been there since I took a St Marks School class trip there in 1985. Book at the iSite at the train station and you'll get a 10% discount. Shantytown was built to preserve the Coast's 19th century gold, timber and steam-powered pioneer history.

It looks a bit Wild West and so it must have been back in the gold rush days.  Those of us who are baby-boomers may just recognise some household items and shop equipment originating between 1850 to 1940, from our youth. It's an amazing collection of detail. ShantyTown is home to a collection of over 10,000 objects, 2000 photographs and 1000 archives. 

I visited this tourism activity on a very quiet and sunny morning.It was pleasant to stroll, take the time to look at all the information and collectables but without any crowds it lacked a certain energy. Can't have it all. So... lots of time spent checking out the shops, hospital and pharmacy, firestation, schoolhouse, forge, jail, gemstones and minerals gallery, newspaper office, church and we finished with a look at the recently added Masonic Lodge (not my interest at all).

If you'd like to practice gold panning you can do so. You are bound to get some specks in the bottom of your pan and there's a hydraulic slicing gun that shows how water was used to blast gold-bearing gravel down races and flumes.

A must do includes a heritage train ride that is included in your entry fee. It's a 20 minute trip on the Infants Creek Tramway which allows you time for photos and a chat with the driver. There are also information panels worth reading. The engine itself is a  1957 built TR 107 Diesel.

I had thought that with all the bush and trees around there might have been more birdlife evident but all we saw was a very bold weka, making off with the engine-driver's lunch. 

The sawmill looks like it could still reduce a forest giant to planks and contains heaps of equipment and information on this important sector. We were informed that the forest lost will take 600 years to regenerate. Sixty years of milling destroyed what had taken hundreds of years to create. But NZ needed houses and buildings and exports at the time. There is no more felling of native forests these days, just the imported pine species.

There's an area called Chinatown which shows us that by the mid 1870s the chinese made up the largest minority group on the West Coast goldfields. Their accommodation was so primitive. There's also a short miners tunnel to explore.

The Holographic Theatre wasn't working when I visited but there was still plenty of information around on murders, hard lives of deprivation, local characters, industry and politics.

If you want to send a letter from the Post Office it is fully functional. All mail sent from it bears the ShantyTown postmark. Stamps and postcards are available. 

The jail was interesting and so was the forge. It reminded me a wee bit of Ferrymead in Chirstchurch.

There was quite a bit of nostagia here for me as I identified household objects I remembered my grandmother using. I must admit, it was nice to see some acknowledgement of the huge contributions early settlers had made. Many adventurers came to the West Coast and Otago from many parts of the world hoping to strike it rich from gold back in the nineteenth century.

It is possible to download a free audioguide if you'd like to take a self-guided tour. There's free wi-fi and a children's playground onsite with plenty of car parking.

Call for info: 0800 742 689
Visit: https://shantytown.co.nz

ShantyTown is located between  Greymouth and Hokitika – just 3kms off the main highway (SH6).