Many years ago on the regular shopping trip to Greymouth the kids always encouraged all present to say "Hello" to the lady. On return the encouragement was to say "Thank you" to the lady. After doing this on a few occasions I questioned the motivation for doing so. It was explained that the lady should always be made aware of our journey and on safe return had to be thanked for looking after us. To this day I don't know how and why they came to do this.
The lady stands at the entry of a historic cemetery along SH6 in Charleston. Why not say hello or thank you and wander around imagining this place in the pioneering days with 3,500 inhabitants and at least 37 hotels, stores, etc. Wellington's post master got a promotion to the Charleston Post office in 1867 which was a big step up in his career at the time... There are more historic cemeteries in the area with headstones telling tales of hardship and endurance.