Greymouth Tourist Activities
cycling
On Yer Bike is about 5 miles north of Greymouth. It is a tourist company that offers ATV rides through some typical native forest of the West Coast. The business was started in 1997 by Mike and Sue Roper. Before the business, Mike Roper was a taxi driver in Greymouth. The adventure business comes highly recommended by previous visitors as shown on tripadvisor.
The farm where the business is located has been in the Roper family since 1917 when Micheal’s grandparents, Charles and Violet moved to the area. During the 1960s and 1970s, Michael’s parents ran a chicken farm, but this ended in 1978 when new regulations made the business unviable. Cattle and sheep have always been a part of the farm’s operations and still are, albeit a small part these days considering the success of the quad business.
During your adventure you are likely to come across some of New Zealand’s native birds including Weka, Tui, Kereru (wood pigeon), Fantail and Pukeko.
Another On-Yer-Bike sideline is the café where customers can stop by for a cup of coffee and, just to add another rope to her lasso, Sue Roper crochets and her other commitments keep her busy.
More than 100 years ago there was a school near the area. It was called “The Camp School”, the name of the district. No one knows how it got its name, but it’s probably because the first sawmill on the West Coast was at Coal Creek and “The Cap” may have referred to the men who worked at the sawmill.
Coal Creek is a flood prone area. Water sometimes reaches the road near On-Yer-Bike when the creek floods with the volume of water coming down from the mountains.
Before the sky bridge was built, traffic would have to cross the railroad tracks and look in each direction to see if trains were coming. As far as we know, there was a train/car accident before the bridge was built. However, during the 1968 earthquake, a vehicle crashed into the edge of the bridge while going up and down, killing the driver.
Coultard/Hall Memorial
Just before Runanga is the Coultard/Hall Memorial. This was the scene of the Runanga payroll robbery on November 9, 2017. The pay car left Greymouth that morning with the miners’ wages and salaries, which totaled nearly 4k. Just as the car was about to turn the corner, it ran into an obstruction in the middle of the road. Driver Coultard got out of the car to remove the obstruction at which point a masked man appeared from the bushes yelling “Hands up” before shooting Coultard. He died on the spot. The robber then ran to the car and asked for the cash, but Hall, who was the mine employee, refused to comply and fired two shots from a revolver he was carrying. The robber shot Hall from very close range, so close that Hall’s clothes were on fire as he was being tended to after the robbery. The robber shot James, hitting him in the thigh and back. The thief secured the money before escaping across the train tracks and out of sight.
Runanga
Runanga Township was formed in 1904 as a coal mining town. Before the formation of Runanga, the area was covered in native bush, but the houses that were built to house the mine workers were built from the wood of the trees that were felled to make way for the township. The town prospered with the opening of several coal mines in the area. A railway line was built between Greymouth and Runanga to transport the coal out of the area. The train also operated passenger services. Runanga had its own train station as did Rerenui, which was close to where one of the mines was operating.