Arthur "Never judge a book by it's cover"

On the 1st. March en route from Punakaiki to Hokitika on the West coast,we passed through the town of Greymouth. It is an industrial looking town, and knowing that we were due to spend two nights here during our Tranzalpine trip, we drove through without stopping. I thought to myself, how will we find things to do when we visit here?.Well, to say we haven't had a minute to ourselves today, is an understatement. It wasn't the best of starts to the day. The forecast heavy rain never materialised but it was a heavy drizzle and quite chilly. Our host had recommended we visit "Shantytown", about 12 kms south of Westport. When we asked about public transport he just gave me the key to the motel mini bus and not to rush back. We arrived at Shantytown at 10-30 and only left at 3 in the afternoon. By noon,the rain had stopped and the sun was out again. Shantytown is the site of one of the gold rush townships of the nineteenth century. It is a heritage park of living history. Anne tried her luck panning for gold. She was able to bottle and keep her find. Not enough to bother staking a claim or even to make a ring. We had a fun few hours,as the pics show. When we arrived back at the motel there was just enough time for a cuppa before we were off again. This time we were picked up by taxi and driven to Monteith's Brewery for a tour and some sampling of their products. If the blog goes a bit incoherent from here on in you know why. The Kiwis are fanatical when it comes to recycling. I hope this isn't them taking it a bit too far. Monteith's does have an acquired taste though!!!!!!! After all the sampling was over we were picked up by taxi and driven to the restaurant of our choice (The Railway) for a nice meal to finish off a truly wonderful day.