GREYMOUTH
Greymouth is another of those towns
that has suffered with a decline in economic activity. Like Westport
Greymouth is sitting on rich reserves of coal, and that coal remains
untouched.
Greymouth has a rich history and is an
‘old’ town. Coal and gold were the early key economic drivers and now
services and tourism are those commercial drivers that the town is
dependant.
When the mining industry started to
decline, forestry became a new staple industry. Fishing has long been
important to the town, despite the fact that the entrance to the Grey
River has two notoriously dangerous sandbars– an inner and outer bar.
The town also has a local brewery, Monteith's, which
produces beer since 1868, now sold countrywide. If visiting this must
do because significant elements of history are covered in the tour.
In fact it noted that one point in Greymouth's history
there were over 30 hotels
in the area. The Greymouth Museum
covers
this subject in a little detail.   
Greymouth, even though an old town has lost all of the
‘traditional’ churches and this somewhat symbolises the Greymouth
profile. The churches were grand affairs, but lack of maintenance had
the buildings become unsafe, and very expensive to renovate.
The War Memorial is on the fringe of the town.
A
little south of Greymouth is Kunara Junction, the start point of the
'coast to coast' event. 5k from the junction is the village of Kunara.
The hotel is the last fully commercial venture at Kunara
Greymouth is a very interesting town, and over a day
is required to take in what is on offer.
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