Oamaru: gardens and penguins

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Oamaru during the day was a lot more alive then at night. It's an elderly town, quiet, the type of place where the afternoon is best spent outside with a cup of tea, reading a book.

Oamaru also apparently has penguins. They only come out in the morning and evening; so I got up at 7:30, but when I walked down to the ocean there were no penguins in sight. I chatted to a man at the beach who told me they had made their trip from land to sea at 6:30. Out of luck, I decided to stick around the town for the day and wait for the penguins to come back home. It's not like I'm in a rush to get anywhere in particular.

The town is idealic and uneventful. It seems as if the garden city planners when all out. There's a large, main boulevard, lined with trees, small shops, city hall. The boulevard is flanked on one side by the ocean and on the other by a park. For a population of 12,000, the gardens are unbelievable. The path follows a small stream draped by willow trees. Paths peel off at intervals leading to various types of gardens, pagodas, waterfalls, fountains, duck ponds, lawn bowling, sculptures, rose gardens. The amount of work that must go into maintaining it is unbelievable, but the result is stunning. And, it smells beautiful. There are large hedges with white flowers that make the air intoxicatingly sweet (I think they might be honeysuckles).

It's no wonder all those English poets wrote sonnets when they were lying in parks like these. But, I'm more of a penguin person, and I drove out to the beach in the afternoon with a girl I met at the hostel to see if the penguins were coming home!

A bit of background on the penguins: they sleep on these steep cliffs and every day they travel to the sea. Watching them swim is similar to watching someone boogie board. They look like they're having the time of their lives. Watching them walk, on the other hand, is sort of like watching people attempt three legged races. Leaving the ocean they kept getting knocked over like bowling pins. I'm not quite sure how they made it up the cliffs, apparently they have sharp claws, balance, and good hopping skills.

I couldn't stop laughing watching the penguins walk up the cliff. But, they seemed like they were having a good time. All in all, life as a penguin seems pretty good. (Except maybe the 80% mortality rate among juveniles on their first journey home).

I wanted to make it to Dunedin before dark, so I left the penguins to finish their journey up the ravines, and I started my own journey south while the sun was setting.

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Photos

In search of the penguins
Walking at 7:30 in the morning, I better find some dumb penguins walking on the road. But, no such luck, apparently they get up even earlier then I do.

Birds
With so many thousands of birds at the beach, I thought as least ONE of them could be a penguin! I forget what these are called, but they're definitely not penguins.

Sea
With no penguins in sight, I just sat and watched the sea crash against the break wall until the sun came up. I don't think I could ever live by the sea; it's too vast and empty.

Gardens
Every town in New Zealand seems to have these incredible gardens in the center of their cities. Go there, and the whole town disappears for a moment.

Waiting
Here we are, looking over the sea, waiting for the penguins to come home.

Finally!
Look close, I swear there's a penguin walking along the beach back to the cliffs!

Penguins
They came home in pairs, and walked up past the look out point. With no predators on the island (except sea lions while swimming) its no wonder they're so slow and chill!