Weekends in Las Greygas

Arthur's Pass attracts visitors primarily for its scenery, hiking, and wildlife (read: the kea). With a population of less than 50, one might expect that those of us who live here would have trouble filling our spare time. That has not proven to be the case, at least for me: the Bealey River has more than one swimming hole, all at a temperature just warmer than freezing; for some reason, there is a public squash court; and I've been able to indulge a number of my curiosities, including experimenting with new baking recipes and taking an online course to improve my travel writing skills.

But there are obviously numerous services that this place cannot provide, a supermarket first among them. So I've been taking advantage of our free seats on the bus service that comes by every day to go to Greymouth. Greymouth is the largest town on the West Coast, but that isn't saying much in one of the wildest districts of New Zealand. With its history of mining, fishing, and forestry, it is now facing many of the same challenges as other blue-collar towns and cities across the Western world. Put more simply, it's the kind of place that causes people to roll their eyes and groan when its name comes up in conversation.

But coming from a settlement that doesn't even qualify as a village, Greymouth might as well be Las Vegas. It has a supermarket, a department store, and a cinema (!), among many other things that Arthur's Pass doesn't have. Although I like to think its name is highly appropriate - there's plenty of rain and concrete - it's hard to stay bored when I have a week's worth of purchases to make. And it happens to be right on the ocean (in this case, the Tasman Sea), something that, in my opinion, should always drive real estate values up.

I don't think I've ever seen a more typical Kiwi house.

I guess they couldn't agree on how to spell it. So they used both.

The Tasman Sea.

The Grey River on an atypical sunny day.