Queenstown to Oamaru

Queenstown to Oamaru

17 - 18 Feb - Oamaru YHA (Red Kettle) - a small double room and shared bathroom facilities. A lovely, small, warm and friendly YHA with a mix of young and not so young travellers from all over the world. On route to Oamaru we stopped at the fascinating and unusual Moeraki Boulders. Standing on these honeycomb boulders felt like standing on top of the world. The barefoot walk, hand in hand, along the beach and through the surf to the boulders in the mid afternoon was bliss. The added magical moment was seeing two dolphins tumbling playfully in the surf. The boulders are some 25k south of Oamaru.

We spent the first evening going to see if we could site the yellow eyed penguins, but found that there were loads of people already there and you were a long way from the penguins (being short-sighted meant that I saw very little). Travel tip - take binoculars!!! Following that we headed to the Blue Eyed penguin viewing Colony. You are not allowed to take photos, but you do have a comfortable covered sitting area and the ability to purchase hot drinks and snacks. Useful, as you will find yourself sitting there for at least 1.5 to 2 hours whilst these small and cute penguins find their way back to shore and slowly climb up the embankment to find their way home. They sit at the bottom of the slope and wait for other penguins to land at shore, then a confident one will strive out ahead of the others and they start to all follow on up. It as actually quiet magical to see, and you find yourself counting them out and willing more to arrive safely.

The next day we took a self guided walk around the magnificent and grand buildings of Oamaru. This was a rich and prosperous place at one time but lost out to other ports and the area fell into economic decline. Tourism is starting to reverse that trend now and you can see investment taking place. We enjoyed a long black at Steam and lunch at the Whisky Store. Travel tip - you will never have better coffee anywhere than NZ (and that is from seasoned French and Italian travellers!).





New Zealand, Queenstown, Oamaru