From Town to Shantytown

We had an early start this morning in town as Eloise wanted to open a bank account to deposit the money Nanny had given her before we left for NZ.  The staff in the bank are so lovely and helpful, really makes a refreshing change, we’re already on first name terms with three of the staff there!  We also went to the library to return some books and I bought a nice pair of walking sandals in preparation for the many treks we plan to do!  On the way out of town we called at the fish shop at the seafront to pick up some nice juicy prawns and some fish for supper, yum yum.

As it was such a nice day, we decided to head over to Shantytown, just a 5 minute car drive away from Greg’s parents house.  Shantytown is a heritage attraction with over thirty shops and buildings to explore.  Check it out at www.shantytown.co.nz .  This is where ‘Art in the Park’ will be held this year, an art festival which was setup up by Greg’s mom.  Have a look at the website for more information, www.artinthepark.co.nz !!!  We’re looking forward to attending this year!!

Do you like the photo below, Eloise has been a naughty girl at school and the teacher (Greg) is giving her the cane! Ouch!!  Good job the cane is banned from school these days, Eloise doesn’t look very happy about it! 

Here is the old hospital, we just loved all the old equipment, Eloise felt a bit faint when she saw the arms and legs hanging on the wall so she had to have a rest on the operating table!!

We also took a ride on the steam train and on the way back we got off and walked to the top of the hill to see the big sluice gun demonstration.  The sluice gun blasts into the rock to break it away and then washes it down a flume.  At the bottom of the flume you can pan for gold, so Eloise tried her hand at that and managed to find some gold dust, not quite enough to enable us to retire just yet!!

Here is Greg in the old Barber Shop, Eloise is giving him a shave with a cut throat razor!!!  There were lots of different shops and buildings, so I’ll just show you some of them below!

Eloise enjoyed using the old cash register and the old meat mincing machine!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, if you should see any of these dodgy looking characters on your travels, there is a warrant out for their arrest, the little one in the middle is the most dangerous, so beware, approach with caution!! 

I better not load anymore photos just now or it might crash the website!!!  Hope you enjoy them, love Sarah, Greg & Eloise xxx