Two nights in quaint Reefton but time to move on to see yet more of this amazing country. The first place to find today (Sunday) in the very low cloud and drizzle was the 9 hole Ikamatua golf course which we were curious to know if it still operational - there was nothing online to indicate it might be closed. Claudette, our Google map guide who sounded very confident, had no hesitation in taking us there.
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| A Mt. Nessing moment! |
Unfortunately the only sign that it might have ever existed was a little, disused building on the side of the road which must have been the clubhouse. The course itself had reverted into normal looking paddocks. I was quite pleased actually not to feel obliged to play in the rain!
Having not been to Blackball on our previous trip we travelled down the northern side of the Grey River this time to do a little exploring there. A tiny little settlement with a population of 330 in 2006 it was named after the Black Ball Shipping Line which leased land in this area to mine for coal.
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| A typical old miner from days gone by! |
It became known for the Great Strike in 1913 and there is a lot of information in the small but informative Working Class History Museum established there in 2010, the mine having closed in 1964.
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| The Hilton! |
Now it's more known for it's "Formerly" Hilton Hotel which was forced by the Hilton chain to change it's name but seems to have only added "formerly" to it. Amongst the few other buildings there Blackball has a general store and a salami outlet which unfortunately was closed being Sunday.
Len was amused by the hot "lady" who stripped to her bra on the main street right by our bus, hanging her outer clothes on our mirror before replacing just the outer one!
From there we drove through Stillwater to Lake Brunner where we are parked in the free area at Iveagh Bay, a lovely spot right on the lake edge. Maybe there's a Trout to catch!
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