After we arrived at Greymouth, in the late evening of a cold and dark winter day, in June 2000, we had checked into the Breeze Motel. It was a cosy, quiet place centrally located in the heart of town. The town isn't large by any standard but is still the most important town along the west coast. We walked out from our suite and headed for the edge of the town centre. The night lights were already on as we ambled along, catching in the sights, sounds and tranquility of the surroundings. Most of the shops and other attractions were closed for the night by about 5 pm. And we haven't yet had dinner. It was heaven-sent that, as we headed back towards our motel, on a corner of Chapel Road, we noticed a very small, Chinese take away food shop, hidden in a secluded corner of a row of buildings. The shutter was half-way down. They too were about to close shop. The signboard read Hong Kong restaurant. The owners were a Chinese couple who had the Cantonese look about them. So, I spoke to them in Cantonese ,my native dialect. Bingo! The man was from Hong Kong and his wife was from Malacca before they came to NZ. We chatted like some long-lost cousins, asking about our forefathers' origins in HK. Then, he asked what we were doing there. And I said we were desperately looking to get us some dinner..of any kind, but had no luck. After hearing of our plight, my newly found "countryman"fried us half a chicken, and added fries,bread and other stuff...and beef noodles and traditional fried rice, just for us, he said. He went about his cooking rather happily. He told us there were few Asians in that town,let alone Chinese and one who could speak his tongue!
We thanked the kind couple profusely and wanted to pay him extra. He declined. Such hospitality is normally absent in the bigger cities. This meal turned out to be the "biggest meal" we had throughout our trip.
The next day, we had time for NZ's premier Jade Gallery situated at 1, Guinness Road.
The brochure is attached here. We bought a couple of pendants. They are lovely.
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