Greymouth
Greymouth is the largest town in the West Coast region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The population of the whole Grey District is, which accounts for % of the West Coast's inhabitants. The Greymouth urban area had an estimated population of A large proportion of the District, 65%, is part of the Conservation Estate owned and managed by the Department of Conservation making Greymouth a natural centre for walkers and trampers.
Location
The town is located at the mouth of the Grey River, on a narrow coastal plain close to the foot of the Southern Alps. In clear weather, Aoraki / Mount Cook can be clearly seen to the south from near the town. The mouth of the river divides the town into three areas: Blaketown, close to the river's mouth on the south bank; Karoro, to the southeast, separated from Blaketown by a series of small estuarine lagoons; and Cobden, formerly a separate town, on the river's north bank.Greymouth is on, which connects it with Hokitika in the south and Westport in the north. It also stands at the terminus of, which runs through Dobson and Reefton, eventually reaching North Canterbury and its junction with State Highway 1 at Waipara, north of Christchurch, via Lewis Pass. Highway 73 is accessed south of Greymouth, which is the most direct route to or from Christchurch.
The town is also the western terminus of the Midland line from Christchurch. Large coal trains often operate from Greymouth on this line to Christchurch. The famous TranzAlpine train also terminates at Greymouth. The Greymouth Airport is only south of the centre of the town.
Climate
classifies its climate as oceanic. The mean annual rainfall Greymouth receives is high by New Zealand standards and is distributed relatively evenly throughout the year. This is due to its position receiving marine westerlies throughout the year that often do not rise above the Southern Alps. As a result, it creates a rain shadow effect that sees east coast locations having far sunnier and warmer summers. This extreme marine influence also shelters the Greymouth area from hot summer days and cold winter nights. Snow is uncommon, with the last reported event occurring on 4 August 2019.On 10 March 2005, a major tornado, which started as a waterspout, made landfall in the suburb of Blaketown. It quickly moved through the town passing just south of the main town centre. The tornado was one of the largest reported in recent history in the West Coast region, caused millions of dollars in damage, and injured several people. Previous tornadoes which had struck Greymouth on 16 June 2003 and 28 March 2001 had destroyed several buildings.
The Barber
A katabatic wind blows down the Grey Valley and is known locally as the Barber, which can be seen as well as felt because a mist accompanies the cold wind. In the early twentieth century the Barber was also known as the "gorge wind". It was reported that there were changes to the direction, severity and coldness of the wind in that era and this change was attributed to the felling of trees on the Coast Road leading north towards the new settlements of Dunollie and Seven Mile. Greymouth businesses would often advertise the benefits of their products, especially clothing to ward off the chill of the Barber.Flooding
A combination of high intensity rainfall, high topographic relief and short steep rivers often leads to rapid flooding of low-lying land across the West Coast. Since its founding Greymouth has experienced two dozen floods by the Grey River, with many of the most significant being assigned names: for example, the Great Flood, the Jubilee Flood, the Big Flood, The Biggest Since 1887, The Biggest Since 1936, The Big One and The Biggest. After the two floods in 1988 the mayor of Greymouth, Barry Dallas, organised the construction of a flood protection wall. Rising 2 m above the level of the railway embankment and riverside wharf, it was completed in September 1990 at a cost of NZ$4m. Since its completion Greymouth has not suffered a significant flood, although the river has come close to the top of the flood wall several times.Local walks
With 65% of the Grey District forming part of the Conservation Estate, there are many local walks to enjoy.Coal Creek Track
The path gently descends down to the Coal Creek valley though a mixed beech-podocarp forest. The walk is approximately 3.6 km return and is accessed 8 km northeast of Greymouth at Runanga.King Domain Walk
This is a zigzag uphill track taking in four lookouts across Greymouth and the Grey Valley. The first lookout shows the Greymouth town centre and the Grey River. The second lookout provides a view of central Greymouth from a greater elevation. The third lookout at a rock outcrop gives a view of Cobden and the final lookout provides a panorama of the lower Grey Valley.Kōwhai Bush Walk
Located off Turumaha Street next to Anzac Park, this short loop walk takes you through the Kōwhai Forrest, half of which is bounded by the mudflats of Blaketown Lagoon. There are some boardwalks which follow through estuarine vegetation.Omotomotu Bush Walk
This walk is located in the only substantial forest area close to Greymouth. It is located on Marsden Road and is a 25 minute loop track. Halfway along the track is a deviation to a lookout point with views of regenerating forest.Point Elizabeth Walkway
This walk is accessed via North Beach Road, Cobden or Seven Mile Road, Rapahoe and is 5.5 km one way. It is a well-formed walk through coastal bush with stunning cliff top views.Woods Creek Walk
This forest track passes by tailraces and dams and through tunnels built by gold miners in the 19th century and is a 1.1 km loop track. It is approximately 30 km southeast of Greymouth.History
Polynesian settlement
Archaeological evidence shows Māori settlements on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island dating back to 1300–1400 AD. Located at Karamea, Westport, Bruce Bay and Jackson Bay, excavations have identified in-ground cooking ovens and middens. They show that these early Māori ate moa and seals as well as fish from the river and sea. These earliest West Coast people were from east Polynesia. Their stone knives and adzes were made by using the Polynesian flaking method and personal ornaments found on the sites were based on traditional Polynesian shark-tooth designs. These early people were subsumed by later Māori tribes who came to the West Coast as population grew and settlement spread.Ngāi Tahu on Te Tai Poutini
came to Te Tai Poutini about the start of the nineteenth century. Under Tūhuru Kōkare, a great warrior, they defeated the Ngāti Wairangi in a series of battles for the greenstone coast. The West Coast was one of the principal sources of the highly-prized greenstone which is almost as hard as steel. The Poutini Ngāi Tahu built fortified pā at Māwhera, Ōkārito and Mahitahi and had villages or gardens at other places including Inangahua, Taramakau, Mahinapua, Pouerua, Okuru and Arawhata. The name Māwhera (meaning 'wide spread river mouth', is still an alternative name for the Grey River.European settlement
The first Europeans to visit the site of what is now Greymouth were Thomas Brunner and Charles Heaphy in 1846. Brunner and Heaphy were detailed by the Nelson Land Company to investigate the country south of the Buller and to report on its resources and potential as a field for further settlement. They set out from Nelson on 17 March 1846 accompanied by a Māori named Kehu, who had previously visited the West Coast and who had agreed to act as their guide. Brunner discovered coal in the Grey Valley, and several places in the region bear his name. Brunner himself named the Grey River after Sir George Grey, Governor of New Zealand.As numbers of colonists continued to increase in Nelson and Canterbury, interest grew in settling the West Coast, but the land was still owned by Māori – Poutini Ngāi Tahu. In 1857 Poutini Ngāi Tahu chiefs wrote to Donald McLean, the New Zealand government land purchase officer, offering to sell the land for £2500, as long as some land was reserved for their use and they kept their rights to the pounamu of the Arahura River. In 1859, James Mackay was sent to broker a purchase deal, known as the Arahura Deed. This was signed in Māwhera by leading chiefs on 21 May 1860: it sold the entire West Coast to the Crown for just £300, apart from a scattering of reserves totalling. The reserves included Māwhera, now the centre of Greymouth.
On 22 July 1864 the Nelson became the first steamer to cross the Grey bar and steam up the Grey River. Aboard the 'Nelson' were Matthew Batty and Reuben Waite plus approximately 70 prospectors. Reuben Waite would open the first store in Greymouth on the banks of the Grey River at the corner of which is now Waite Street and Mawhera Quay. Matthew Batty would become the first European coal miner on the Grey River overseeing a group of Māori digging up the Brunner Seam on the Grey River bank.
John Rochfort undertook the original survey of the site of the township in 1865. Greymouth was proclaimed a borough on 16 July 1868, and on 26 August 1868 an election was held. On 16 September 1868, the new borough council held its first meeting and unanimously elected Edward Masters as the first mayor of Greymouth.
From 1853 until the abolition of provinces in 1876, Greymouth was first part of Canterbury Province and then part of an independent Westland Province. However Cobden, on the north bank of the Grey River was a part of Nelson Province from 1853 to 1876. The boundary between the Canterbury and Nelson provinces had been set as a straight line from the head of the Hurunui River to Lake Brunner at a time when the area was virtually uninhabited, but the West Coast gold rush straddled that boundary, with a population boom also straddling the boundary. In 1866, there had been a proposal for portions of Canterbury Province, including the urban area of Greymouth and the rural area south, to be annexed and solely administered by Nelson Province. The situation for the citizens of the area was partially alleviated with the creation of the County of Westland – which had all the administrative powers of a provincial council, but saw the legislative powers remain with Parliament in Wellington. Members of Parliament were not happy with having to spend their time on local legislation, and in 1873 the government elevated the county to full provincial status as Westland Province.