As the weather has been a bit unpredictable over the last couple of days, 
we decided to go for a drive to Reefton today.
Reefton is a small town on New Zealand’s West Coast, about 80km northeast of Greymouth, in the valley of the Inangahua River.
In 1888 Reefton became the first town in New Zealand and the Southern Hemisphere to receive electricity and its streets were lit by commercial electricity generated by the Reefton Power Station.
Rich veins of gold found in a quartz reef near the town led to its name, and also its former name of Quartzopolis. Gold was first discovered near the town in 1866, although the major discovery was made in 1870. Soon after, the town briefly boasted a population of several thousand. This has dwindled to less 
than a thousand, but with the opening of an Australian owned goldmine the population is expected to grow by several hundred. Other industries in the town are coal mining, forestry, tourism and angling.
Hope you enjoyed the little history lesson, had to enlist some help from google!!
The town was fairly quiet but we enjoyed a nice spot of lunch at the tearoom 
below and then went for a browse around some of the art galleries. We saw some lovely paintings by an artist called Alison Hale, unfortunately she won’t be exhibiting at Art in the Park this year because she is really busy with private commissions, but check out her website if you get chance a http://alisonhaleartist.vc.net.nz.
Just arrived back at the house, so we’re all just relaxing with a cup of tea and later we’ll head down to the beach to go for a walk with Eloise.