When we passed through, this pictorial museum of Greymouth's gold rush days was closed indefinitely, to allow the handsome 1924 building to undergo earthquake strengthening.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

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1. Left Bank Art Gallery

0.29 MILES

A wide community of West Coast artists is represented in this former bank, which displays contemporary NZ prints, paintings, photographs, jewellery and…

2. Monteith’s Brewing Co

0.41 MILES

The original Monteith's brewhouse is the HQ for this nationally famous beer brand: glossy and a wee bit corporate, but it delivers a high-quality…

3. Shantytown

6.13 MILES

Good fun for kids and young-at-heart travellers, Shantytown is a recreated 1860s gold-mining town, 10km south of Greymouth. Peer inside a church, a tavern…

5. Formerly the Blackball Hilton

12.1 MILES

Blackball's major talking point is this century-old pub, once known as the Dominion. When it was renamed in the 1990s, a certain global hotel chain got…

6. Glowworm Dell

21.47 MILES

At nightfall, bring a torch (or grope your way) into this grotto on the northern edge of town, signposted off SH6. The dell is an easy opportunity to…

7. St Mary's Catholic Church

22.2 MILES

This handsome Catholic church, completed in 1928, could only be admired from the outside when we passed through, due to earthquake-strengthening…

8. National Kiwi Centre

22.28 MILES

Tiptoe through the darkened kiwi house to watch the birds rummage for tasty insects, or stare a tuatara – a reptile unchanged for 150 million years – in…