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Town in West Coast, New Zealand
Photo: Stewart Nimmo, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Greymouth (Māori: Māwhera; in English pronounced "Grey Mouth" without shortening the "ou") is the heart of the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island.
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A replica gold mining town complete with sawmill, gold sluice and gold panning. A steam train runs several trips each day. (10:45AM, 11:45AM, 1:15PM, 2:15PM, 3:15PM). The track follows an original bush tram-line. You can also take a close look at the working steam engine of the train at the end of the line. Shantytown also operates New Zealand's only steam school in association with Tai Poutini Polytech. You can see restored buildings like jail, Bank of New Zealand, fire station, hospital, school, Chinatown etc., while the gem & mineral hall, church, and coronation hall are original buildings. The restored post office accepts letters and postcards, bearing the special Shantytown postmark. There is a 10 minutes show running 4 times an hour in The Princess Holographic Theater. Old style portraits in provided vintage costume can be booked at the entry building with extra charge. Photos will be taken in Golden Nugget Saloon instead of Photographers Shop, and with a digital camera instead of an analog big frame camera. And you can have some drink or food at King Dick’s Cafe, or use its toilet. Beside cars, another option to go to Shantytown from Greymouth is via cycling, which is a section of the West Coast Wilderness Trail.
Art gallery (with some works for sale) with space for emerging artists. The gallery has an impressive collection of greenstone. The gallery is in the former Bank of New Zealand built in 1924.
Southern Breakwater Viewing Platform
A great viewing platform to watch the waves crashing and shorebirds. Also a good spot to view the sunset over West Coast. A toilet is nearby at Blaketown Tip Head Campervan Park. The view here is similar to Northern Breakwater in the Cobden Aromahana Lagoon Walk, so if you have a tight schedule you may visit one of these Breakwaters and skip the other.
Historic site of the Brunner Mine.
Awesome collection of old photos about the history of Greymouth. Unfortunately it is closed due to structural issues but you can still view this iconic building from outside.
Speights Ale House
This category 1 building is an example of later, more restrained work by the Scottish born Architect John Campbell. It was the prominent building on the riverfront. Earthquake strengthened in 2007, it is now an ale house.
Great public swimming pools with waterslides, spa and sauna. Also a gym and indoor courts.
Off-road quad biking through 300 acres of West Coast rainforest and farm.
quay walk
A 2-minute walk on a flat gravel track along the Grey River. Explore the cave entrance and the first chamber without a torch. Sturdy footwear is advised for inside the cave. Visitors are advised to go no further than the first chamber.
West Coast Wilderness Trail
A lovely flat walk along the flood wall beside the Grey River. There are beautiful views of the river and the Twelve Apostles range, as well as some of the commercial and industrial areas of the town. Follow the trail further to see the historic and modern port areas, then the harbour where there are often fishing boats docked. Continue to the Southern Breakwater, historic gun emplacement, and then the beach. There are several memorial parks and historical landmarks along the way, like Cobden Rail Bridge Heritage Park, Miners Memorial Park, Coal River Heritage Park. Also, along the way there are boards introducing the town history. This trail is for walking and cycling. The whole trail can be accessed at various points.
A 10-min loop walk of approximately 700 metres through a small remnant area of kowhai forest and over boardwalks through estuarine vegetation. There is a wide range of aquatic birdlife to be seen on the tidal lagoon (Blaketown Lagoon), and other native & introduced species in the forest for those with patience to spot them. During the day you may be lucky and spot a kōtuku/white heron and at dusk you may see or hear a ruru/morepork. The track is flat across a rough gravelled surface and wooden boardwalks.
Cobden/Northern Breakwater
Enjoy views of the Cobden Lagoon and the wide range of waterbirds that can be seen there. You may be fortunate enough to spot the rare kōtuku/white heron. On a clear day there are beautiful views of the Southern Alps, and closer at hand the Twelve Apostles range. The track is a flat gravelled surface of about 20 min, with a 100-m walk along the road edge of the lagoon back to the parking area. There is also foot access to the beach from the track, and seats and a picnic table along the way to rest at.
This bush track connecting Rapahoe, just north of Greymouth, to a northerly "suburb" of Greymouth, on the north side of the river, was an old water race built by 19th-century miners. This coastal walk has forest and cliff top views. If you can be dropped off at one end and picked up at the other end, then this easy hike will take about 1 hr 45 min. Mountain biking is only permitted at night time from April 1 to September 30.
Enjoy the lovely bush walk down to the impressive Coal Creek Fall.
This 45-min forest track passes by tailraces and dams and through historic tunnels built by gold miners.
This famous West Coast brewery which ships its beers through New Zealand offers 45min–1hr beer tours. Adults only.
Go up to the hill for an overlook of the Greymouth town and the coast. The track is unmaintained and covered by grasses, making some edges hard to recognize, so you need to be careful. The Gun Emplacement Walkway is more maintained and offers a similar overlook, although the Custom House is partly covered by trees from the Gun Emplacement. At the watch out of Lions walk, the Custom House at the riverside is clearly visible. About 40 min in return.
10 min return walk containing a number of steps to a concrete structure where a 5” U.S. Naval Gun was housed and you can have an overlook of the Greymouth town there.
Good coffee, cafe breakfast and lunches.
A wide range of traditional fare, but including West Coast options from both land and sea. You can try whitebait, venison or blue cod. Gluten-free and vegetarian options are available.
Local cuisine, gastropub, bar, pub, vegan options. Good filling pub meals.
Authentic Indian food.
Excellent lunches and baking.
Takeaways, fish and hand-cut chips.
Chinese, Asian.
Fish and chips, as well as their specialty, the Santa Fe – a grease bomb of cheese, potato, and bacon, battered and deep fried. Worth experiencing once. Nothing to do with New Mexico.
Fish and chips, takeaways.
Lowest prices offered to BBH members. Very clean, friendly backpackers. A bit out of town but it offers free pick-ups from railway station.
Built in 1912 as the monastery for St Patrick's Church, this building outlives the church building next door and has been renovated as a hostel. Due to its location, it survived from the two floods in 1988, hence its name. Towels are included in singles and available for hire for $3 in dorms. Coins based washers and dryers are available for guests between 2PM and 9PM and cost 2 two-dollar coins each (you can bring your own wash powder or buy it from reception for $1). Kitchen is closed for cleaning on 11AM and 10PM. Cash and Visa/Master credit card are supported. American Express or JCB is unsupported but you can use them for payment via booking.com.
A tiny house transformed from a 1963 SB3 Bedford Bus, located in private bush settings. It includes a queen sized bed, a fan heater, shower and flushing toilet, kitchenette, microwave and refrigerator. Breakfast (bread, butter, and milk) is provided. Self check-in with Key safe. You can book it via Airbnb.
Sweet little second-hand book shop with a pot-bellied stove. Prices and stock are good, especially for New Zealand and West Coast books, but cash only.
A range of locally sourced New Zealand (Pounamu) Greenstone that has been expertly carved into necklaces, earrings and rings.
Network Photos Limited
Discover Stewart Nimmo’s unique West Coast imagery. Also handy if you need some passport photos or films (only 35mm color negatives available, and it is a bit pricey, $39 for a 36 exp roll of Kodak Gold or Ultramax)
Authentic West Coast pounamu (jade).
Bikes and outdoor gears. This is the only shop to hire mountain bikes and e-bikes in Greymouth. There is another shop called Mann Cycles & Security, where you can buy bikes and gears, but their bikes are unavailable to hire.
A traditional style barber shop EST 1952 in a beautiful building. Female cuts must make an appointment due to the time factor.
By train
The world-famous TranzAlpine, operated by Tranz Scenic departs from Christchurch station at 8:15AM and arrives at Greymouth at 12:45PM daily.
By bus
By plane
This is a small town and you can easily walk to inns and restaurants within the town. If you want to go further afield, your choices are:
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