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The kids loved their morning exploring the town. Their highlight was the gold panning, an absolute must. They were blown away with all the "old" things and the way life was not too many years ago. The staff were so friendly & accommodating. A+ attraction & an asset to the West Coast community & tourism industry. Let's hope it's kiwis can help to keep it going by making sure we visit when we can.
Their gold washing was fun, but the whole experience is only alright, the train ride is supposed to be a highlight but can be crowded and have poor visibility, everything else might not live up the vibe, we got bored rather quickly. I also don’t recommend booking online since it’s the same full price, yet you can easily find discount vouchers around local businesses that can get u up to 20% off.
A small sign advertising ‘Shanty Town’ caught our attention on the drive from Greymouth to Hokitika. We stopped in thinking it would be a bit of a laugh, but we actually had a really good time! There is a lot to look at and if you time it right you get to go for a short ride on an old railway carriage up a historic logging track. You can also even pan for gold! A lot of effort has been put in to the presentation of this place and you can easily spend a couple of hours here. There is a bar and a cafe amongst a whole range of other buildings and recreations. Would definitely recommend a visit if you have a few hours up your sleeve.
What an awesome half day spend in Shantutown. Probably similar to most other historical villages, but was the first time for us to visit one with the kids. There is a cafe where you can get aome food and drinks. It closes at 3pm. Included in the ticket price (we had a family pass for $99) was a train ride where you can see a logging history and also 4 tickets for gold panning which was a highlight for the kids. There is a nature walk with some more history about gold mining. There are some audio boxes all around the town but most of them dont work unfortunately. Its a real ahame as those which were working were not oy informative but fun as well. We were told there will be a showcase of a water gun at 1pm as well, we were there but nobosy came to show us. The whole village doesnt look maintained very well. Its a shame as otherwise it would be a 5star from us. Oh and there is a playground and picnic tables all around as well so you really can spwnd half a day there easily.
