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Published: March 3rd 2017
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Moeraki
Moeraki i Boulders I loved Oamaru! Rod had organised this whole trip including accommodation and Oamaru was a) a second chance to see blue penguins and b) where we would be staying the night on a railway station!
En route to Oamaru we passed the Moeraki rocks, rounded boulders, "remarkable concretions" according to Rod's geology book. Spread out on a wide sandy beach, they were very photogenic and provided the perfect place to walk and to take photos, along with many other tourists. We paid a voluntary €2 for the pleasure, which reminded me that the pancake rocks had been free........Lovely site.
Arriving at Oamaru around lunchtime, we thought we would first check out the penguin tours at the harbour. Imagine our surprise when we passed the long jetty crowded with black and white shags. No entry, it said, as if anyone would want to mess with hundreds of huge birds out of a Hitchcock film! The penguin information place was a hundred metres further on and we were assured that we would definitely see penguins that evening, starting just after 8pm. If we wanted to see the yellow-eyed penguins, we would have to drive to the headland above us and wait
Oamaru
Jetty with shags between 5-6pm when they would swim into the next bay.
The restaurant nearby served good fish so we had lunch there before going to investigate the town. Our host Niki would be at the station to open the cottage after 4pm so we had a couple of hours to explore. Peter our Dunedin host had mentioned the Steam Punk Museum and you couldn't miss a huge rusting steam engine rearing up in front of an old stone building at the start of the historic part of town. Someone put €2 in a slot and steam began rising from the chimney, flames from the funnel and it was quite bizarre and very entertaining especially as the driver was a skeleton!
So another €10 each for a strange experience of rusting machinery and weird and wonderful experiences. Rod played on an old organ which produced psychedelic lighting and unexpected sound effects. Then we both went through a door to a "time machine" which at first turned out to be a small dark space with mirrors on floor, ceiling and every wall so you were reflected on every side. Then coloured lights came on, like hanging Christmas lights which changed colour
Oamaru
Beware of Penguins sign every few seconds. Quite lovely! Outside were more rusting machines including an old railway carriage; on top of the roof of the building sat another skeleton fishing with a huge curved hook and huge beetles were climbing up the side of the building. Not to everyone's taste but fun nevertheless.
Returning to the main historic street, we happened to spot a group of other old buildings out of the corner of our eye. There was a parallel street and I went down there to take a photo of the scene which included a penny farthing bicycle. Rod naturally climbed on it and had a pedal while I investigated the ice cream shop next door. Apparently the vanilla with bits of honeycomb in it is an original Kiwi recipe. Delicious! We continued to saunter down this street and came across a workshop owned by a sculpture who used sandstone to make rather nice New Zealanded-themed sculptures such as ferns. I took some photos for my friend Meryem who has taken up sculpture in a big way. Other shops included a whisky tasting bar, a second hand book shop, a book binding shop and gift outlets. Since I had heard of
Oamaru
Steam Punk museum a NZ author who had set her novel near Hokitita, I went in to enquire and came out with The Luminaries by Eleanor Catten which won the Booker prize a few years ago.
It was getting on for 5pm so we drove to our railway station B and B which turned out to be the Wheeltapper's Cottage, a white weather boarded cabin near the platform. Niki informed us there were only a few freight trains passing and the room was rather sweet with a comfortable bed, kitchen area with sink and fridge, and a table with a lovely bunch of roses. The view of the station platform and the sea beyond was spectacular and we were pleased to note there was a Chinese takeaway operating from the station too.
We dumped our stuff and headed off to Harrington Point to watch for the yellow-eyed penguins to come in. It was a lovely bay and lots of people were lining up on the cliff top to watch for these penguins but after an hour and a quarter we gave up and went back to our abode where we had our takeaway before heading off to see the blue penguins.
Oamaru
Beautiful limestone buildings The takeaway was enough for four people and would serve as the next night's meal.
The organisation of the penguin-viewing at Oamaru was much better than at the Otago Peninsula in that they had two viewing areas, both in a tiered arrangement which meant that even seated you could have a view of the rafts coming in, their landing on the beach and their waddling up the rocks to their "burrows", wooden nesting-type boxes in a secure area. We had be en told to sit in the back row towards the sea so had a great view but it was quite breezy so I had to go and put on a second layer since we would be watching for a couple of hours.
Even with an annoying large tour party who came in late, we saw all the dramas being played out on the beach including an injured penguin which dragged itself pitifully from the beach and tried in vain to ascend the rocky path. Three gulls watched the scene in a predatory manner and we were relieved when one of the guides climbed over the fence and rescued it. Many of the penguins had to recover their
Oamaru
Railway station breath on the pathway, stopping and preening themselves for up to a quarter of an hour before they proceeded uphill. Other groups sped up the path, heads forward in a determined way in order to reach their burrows asap. It was most entertaining and with the commentary we learned a lot about the habits of these little birds. They leave their burrows before dawn and are at sea the whole day. At this time of year, they have to fatten themselves up before they moult during which time they stay in their burrows.
Once back at the railway station, i was glad I'd remembered to go to the toilet at the harbour as the bathroom was at the end of the platform! Apparently Niki and her husband are restoring the station buildings little by little and intend building a bathroom next to the cottage which would be an improvement. However since we were only staying one night it wasn't a big deal. We talked to Robin on Facetime over breakfast and were able to show him the station platform on my mini IPad and the view which was great fun.
Before leaving the town, we walked along the
Oamaru
Our wheeltapper's cottage modern Main Street which also had a number of the grand C19th buildings along it and I wished we had had the time to visit it more fully including the church and the little museum. However time beckoned and after a coffee we hit the road to our next stop, the Tractor Shed at Twizel.
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