Stopping at Blackball for a night on our way to Reefton, gave us an opportunity to do some exploring of this small mining town.
Just 5min from the Blackball Hilton Hotel carpark where we parked our RV for the night was walks around the former mine and workings.
The Hotel has had to change their name to “Formally The Blackball Hilton” because of legal issues with the Hilton chain of Hotels. The hotel is in Hilton street!
Some effort by new owner residents is being made to restore some of the old houses in Blackball.
The local shops made for some interesting discoveries including the Salami Company where we bought spicy sausages and salami for our pizzas.
Blackball Hilton Hotel, oh, I mean ‘formally The Blackball Hilton’ has a huge amount of history adoring their walls inside. Also, there is a whole alcove of newspaper front pages and photos remembering the recent Pike River Mining tragedy. The hotel housed many of the rescue teams including those from Australia.
There is also some light-hearted memorabilia above the bar and around the walls.
