explore Greymouth
real West Coast Visitor and Travel Information.

Greymouth is the largest town and main business centre on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, with a population of approximately 13,000.

The Greymouth Clock Tower sits at the junction of Tainui Street and Mawhera Quay, on the flood wall.

Named for its locality at the mouth of the mighty Grey River, which is named after Sir George Grey, a former Governor General of New Zealand.

Natural Greymouth

Greymouth is surrounded by rainforest, wild beaches and glorious lakes, back dropped by the majestic Southern Alps, New Zealand’s highest mountains.

Set on the Southern bank of the Grey River, Greymouth developed as a town to supply the prospectors and surveyors in 1863 and survived on coal, timber and more recently tourism.

At the heart of the Coast, Greymouth is the perfect starting point for a number of Coast journeys, and sightseeing trips. The most notable being Shantytown approximately 10km’s south.

Historic Grey District

Shantytown, Rutherglen Road, Greymouth.

One of New Zealand’s leading tourist attractions Shantytown is a faithfully restored replica of an 1880's West Coast gold mining town and a living monument to the hardy pioneers who forded the wildly exotic rivers and streams as they scrambled through the rugged subtropical rainforest in search of their fortunes. Visit Shantytown on line for more information.

Little Earth Village is another Historic attraction 10km's north of Greymouth at On Yer Bike!. A minature replica of the former mining town of Waiuta, in the Grey Valley.

Little Earth also includes a number of other villages and fantasy worlds to explore as you take the part of Gulliver travelling through the little peoples worlds.

Early history

Originally a Maori settlement of cave dwellers, and known as Mawhera, the settlement (Greymouth town today), was a major place for Maori from the North and South who came here to trade for jade (pounamu) which they used for jewellery, weapons and tools instead of steel. It was harder, in fact, than most metals.

Jade is still traded today around the West Coast Region.

Pounamu, Greenstone or Jade the name generally means the same, and it is still a main trade item on the Coast.

At Garth Wilson Jade you can see and handle some of the finest pieces that Garth and his family have found over the years, and watch as Garth carves the stone while explaining the significance of pounamu to Maori and even purchase a memento or piece of Jade Jewellery.

Welcome to Greymouth on the real West Coast ... enjoy your stay.