NewZeaLinz: Oh Oamaru!

My current locum job took me further south in the South Island, down the eastern coast, past Christchurch, to a town called Oamaru.

It was over 7 hours of driving to get from Motueka (after the Abel Tasman walk) down south to Oamaru.

(thank you oamaruonline.com for the map!)

It's the largest town in the North Otago Region, with a population of about 13,000 (the red dot makes it look big, but it's really not). One of the docs and his wife went on a 6 week overseas vacation, so they wanted someone to cover. I agreed to cover for two weeks of his vacation.

Why did I choose Oamaru? Because of this...

CHEESE! Yeah baby! Definitely my first stop in the town.

Oamaru is the home of Whitestone Cheese, one of the South Island's leading Cheese factories. Its name comes from the limestone which is found in this area--- many buildings in the town centre are made of it, giving the town quite a historic feel. There's also a limestone quarry just outside of town.

So back to the cheese...

They have free tastings at the factory/cafe... but this hungry traveller wanted more!

My first meal in Oamaru.

From top to bottom- Probiotic Blue, Creamy Havarti (great), Livingstone Gold, Totara Tasty, Mt Kyeburn (a maple smoked aged cheddar- fantastic!), and Windsor Blue. Yum, yum, yum.

I needed to walk off some of that cheese, so I headed to the small downtown, which was also where the small harbour is located.

This town has such a Victorian feel in their archictecture and their businesses. This cycle shop offered lessons on how to ride a pennyfarthing!

I *so* wanted to try it out, but was running short on time. Plus, me + bikes usually = mishaps, and I didn't have anyone to take care of me in this new town!

I chatted with the cycle shop owner, and he said it's actually easier than a bike to learn to ride. Really? Why? He gave the following analogy--- try to balance a pencil straight up and down in your palm-- hard. Compared to balancing a broomstick--- much easier, right? So the farther away from the ground, the easiest it is to balance! (obviously some physics equation I forget). Cool stuff!

This town is so hooked on pennyfarthings they have a pennyfarthing swingset. Neat art!

Some of the limestome buildings in the Victorian section of downtown... galleries, specialty shops, etc.

A stroll by an old wharf and saw literally hundred of shags hanging out here.

It was a nice first little day exploring in Oamaru. Oh, and another perk of the town: I'm staying in the doc's house while he's on vacation. His wife said the house may be small, but the view was awesome.

Check. it. out.

Yes, all these pics are the views out the kitchen/dining room windows. I CANNOT motivate myself to leave the house to go running in the mornings anymore--- I just sit at the kitchen table, with my coffee at the kitchen table, and admire these incredible morning views overlooking the ocean!!

So, job is going fine. Staff very welcoming, patients nice, etc. I only worked two days until I had a day off for ANZAC day, a public holiday in NZ and Australia, on April 25th, which commemorates those killed in war as well as honoring returned servicemen and women. Each town holds a dawn service. I woke early, bundled up, jogged down the hill to the center of town and joined a few hundred Oamaruvians for the very nice ceremony, with bagpipes, a brass band, a bugler, a speech by the mayor, and a wreathlaying on the WWI memorial in town. We also sang the NZ and Australian National Anthems. Very, very nice.

A jog back up the hill and time to get ready and enjoy my day off by exploring. First stop was to check out one of the penguin colonies in town. Yes, cheese *and* penguins. Life doesn't get much better than this, eh?

They're located at a place called Bushy Beach.

It was mid-morning when I arrived, and knew I wouldn't see any, as penguin viewing is a sunrise/sunset activity--- they swim into the ocean in the AM, spend all day at sea getting food, then come back home to the beach at night.

I was just doing a drive-by to check out the area, and planned to come back around sunset.

Continued driving south along the coast.

This place was called All Day Bay, in a town a bit south of Oamaru called Kakanui.

Kakanui has rich volcanic soil and is known for its tasty tomatoes and potatoes. Bought this huge bag at a roadside stand for 3 dollars! They were so sweet like candy!

Kept on driving south to a town called Moeraki. It's the home of the world-famous Moeraki Boulders.

One may think that these big round rocks might've fell down from the sky or something...

Maori legend says these boulders are remains of calabashes (squash), kumara (sweet potato), and eel baskets that washed ashore after the legendary canoe Araiteuru was wrecked at nearby Shag Point.

Geologists will tell you they are mudstone concretions that have been exposed through shoreline erosion from coastal cliffs that back the beach.

There's over 50 boulders here. It took them 4 million years to form their current size. The biggest weighs 7 TONS and are about 2-3 meters wide

They are fun to pose with, too. :)

Next stop on my coastal drive was Fleur's Place, a seaside restaurant in the quaint town of Moeraki.

EVERYone I knew that had been to Oamaru recommended this place.

Of course, the seafood reigned supreme.

Bluff oysters au naturel..

Seafood chowder...

And a LOVELY patio table and sea view on a gorgeous sunny day!

Took a windy gravel road to see the Moeraki Lighthouse.

Then thought I'd walk out past the lighthouse to this little peninsula to check out the views and the coast.

Look what I found out there! A lazy seal :)

And a yawning one!

After watching those guys for a bit, I headed back north late afternoon, as it would soon be penguin spotting time. There was a cafe on the hill by the Moeraki boulders--- got myself a coffee, and took a look at the Boulders from above. I timed my midday exploration of them earlier quite well, as now it looked like high tide had most of them underwater!

After the caffeine boost, I headed back to Bushy Beach. There were dozens of people there, dressed warmly, waiting eagerly with cameras on the viewing deck on the hill to see some penguin action! (You must stay way away from the beach, as if the penguins see you, they get scared and won't come ashore.)

After patiently watching for about 10 minutes, a little white blip came out of the surf and started waddling across the sand.

Score! Yellow eyed penguin sighting! Us folks on the hill were all excited to see one, but also kind of disappointed it was so far away.

We saw two more waddle in down there in the distance on the beach, but next thing we know, a BIG blip of white popped out of the bushes high on the hill, just about 15-20 feet from where the viewing deck was!

It was this guy!