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Shantytown Review

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WHAT'S NEARBY

• Sights
• Carey Dillon Woodworker
• Jade Boulder Gallery

• Restaurants
• ABC Café

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• Lake Brunner Lodge
• Rosewood

Shantytown

Fodor's Review:

On the southern outskirts of Greymouth, Shantytown is a lively reenactment of a gold-mining town of the 1880s. This is how the settlers who stayed on after that gold rush would have lived -- but without the electricity, running water, and paved entry road. Except for the church and the town hall, most of the buildings are reproductions, including a jail, a blacksmith shop, a railway station, and a barbershop. The gold-digging displays include a water jet for blasting the gold-bearing quartz from the hillside, water sluices, and a stamper -- battery-powered by a 30-foot waterwheel -- for crushing the ore. You can pan for gold with a good chance of striking "color," as this was the site of the world's last major gold rush.

Get Advice From Other Travelers

• Best Vacation Spot in August? Not on the West Coast. :)
  27 responses; most recent on 05/06/2008, 07:12 pm
• 2nd Thoughts? The SI West Coast Drive
  8 responses; most recent on 04/04/2008, 09:32 am

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