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Janet Luxton
Getting to Shantytown Heritage Park 10 kms south of Greymouth is easy by car - now it's just as easy with the new Shantytown Express Bus
Shantytown Heritage Park is 10kms south of Greymouth on the West Coast of the South Island.
It’s really easy to find your way – there are the fabulous brown highway signs pointing you in the right direction all the way from Greymouth, a nifty left-hand turn under a railway bridge and several more little signs along Rutherglen Road to reassure you that yes, you are on the right track and you’re nearly there.
Missing the giant entry sign, old cart and distinctive ½ water wheel adornments on the gate means you are focusing too hard on the GPS co-ordinates that give you the entrance another 100metres along! (note: send your final text message from here as cell phone reception gets patchy past the entry gates…step back in time…)
All fine and dandy if you have a car or a campervan, however, if you’re a backpacker or just come off the Tranzalpine train from lovely Christchurch then getting to Shantytown Heritage Park has been a bit hit and miss, with only a taxi service available for a direct trip to the Park. Worry no more!
The Shantytown Express Bus now operates twice a day everyday to provide travellers a no fuss door to door transport option from Greymouth to Shantytown and return. Our super new bus service makes its first run out from Greymouth at 9:30am with a return trip from Shantytown to Greymouth at 12:45pm – which gets to the Greymouth Railway Station in good time for the TranzAlpine to Christchurch.
The afternoon run starts from Greymouth at 2pm and returns from Shantytown at 4:45pm, giving you ample time to enjoy all the fantastic attractions, sample the food, do some gold panning, see the brand new holographic theatre and browse Reuben Waites General Store for unique souvenirs and gifts.
Book a seat on the Shantytown Express Bus online at www.shantytown.co.nz , from your accommodation provider in Greymouth or from the West Coast Travel Centre (the Railway Station).
Shantytown provides a real sense of what it was like to live in New Zealand by allowing visitors to participate in and observe our country as it was.
By Jeannie Bourke