The town is 253kms. south of Christchurch and, according to a very informative video in the i-SITE, was seen as flourishing economically in the late 19th century on a par with Los Angeles. It was a centre for gold-rush prospectors, and its economy was shored up by quarrying, timber and farming. 1874 saw the arrival of 300 migrant ships to the town and another 400 followed in the years 1876-78. But decline and rot set in as a result of speculation, debt and over-indulgence in alcohol! So much so that Prohibition was introduced in 1906 (presumably with the same dismal success rate as in the USA later).
Getting There:
We passed this river servicing a hydro-electric plant on our way. Thirty years ago HEP and geo-thermal provided 80% of New Zealand's electricity needs but, due to under-investment and opposition from the Green lobby, this has shrunk to 66% today.
Where we stayed:
This was to be the only B&B we had booked in advance and we were keen to see how well it matched-up to its very inviting website (http://www.oamarucreek.co.nz/).
Jay and Austin made us welcome, and our stay was made even more enjoyable by the company of Clive and Miriam (from St. Ives, near Cambridge) who were staying for the same two nights, and who we were to spend more time with later at Moeraki and Dunedin.
And, of course, there was the obligatory coffee venue, described in the 'Rough Guide' as '....purveyors of the best coffee in town'.
Victorian Oamaru:
Before we arrived we had no idea how renowned Oamaru was for the Victorian architecture in the Historic District.
As much as Steve would have loved to have sought out the town on his penny-farthing, he had to be content with walking.
Oamaru has beeen christened 'The Whitestone City' because of its 19th century buildings constructed with the distinctive cream-coloured local limestone. Whitestone is a 'free stone' which is easily worked with metal hand tools when freshly quarried but hardens with exposure to the elements. The dense cluster of well-preserved and grand civic and mercantile buildings makes Oamaru unlike any other town in New Zealand. Most of these buildings were constructed between 1871 and 1883, designed by the architect R.A.Lawson and built by the firm Forrester and Lemon.
Walking around the town there was evidence that Oamaru's engineering industry, epitomised by the bicycle-building works, still survives today.
Built in 1882, the Loan and Mercantile Warehouse, once the largest grain store in New Zealand, is now home to the New Zealand Malt Whisky Company.
'No Entry' to the 21st century?
Arts and Crafts:
How are so many largely empty and redundant buildings to be best put to use? The answer in Oamaru is to use them to exhibit, and sell, an array of artwork, from sculpture to jewellery.
The Railway:
Inevitably, the railway had been of great importance in Oamaru's boom years.
We had seen no passenger trains in the South Island so were surprised to see rails (and no level -crossing) running through the centtre of town, and even more surprised when a goods train rattled through at speed.
The Harbour:
Oamaru is no 'seaside town' but it does have a small working harbour and the inevitable anglers. Steve found a man who had a catch, but it turned out to be a small shark: his 6th that day. Obviously NOT a place to go swimming.
This bird seemded to be posing.
Any ideas which type of bird it is?? (Send us a Comment.)
Oamaru Gardens:
The manicured beauty of the park gave us a real sense of the wealth of the town in the past.
Penguins:
Most people, including us, come to Oamaru to see the penguins! The town is unique in having both yellow-eyed penguin and blue penguin colonies within walking distance of the town centre. We set off to see both on our first night.
The yellow-eyed penguins, if they appear, can be seen at Bushy Beach making their way out of the sea and across the beach in the early evening. Found only in southern New Zealand, they are an endangered species numbering only about 4000 birds, with only a few hundred nesting at Oamaru.Weighing 5-6kg. and standing 65cm. high, they have pink webbed feet and a bright yellow band that encircles their head, sweeping over their pale yellow eyes. By early March the fledgling birds are nearly ready to make their own way and the birds we hoped to see would be making one of their last returns to the nesting-site, after a day's fishing, to feed the chicks.
Unbelievably, we saw 3 birds emerge from the sea in two hours.
Bushy Beach.
We then rushed off to the Blue Penguin Colony.
Blue penguins are the smallest of their kind, white on their chests and bellies with a thick head-to-tail streak along their back in irridescent indigo-blue. Once the eggs are hatched the parents go out to sea for food for the chicks, returning about dusk, travelling in groups (known as rafts). They climb the steep rocks to get to their nests. Once out of the water, most of them stood completely still for long periods before making their way to their nests, and we were told that this was probably either because they were tired after their long day swimming in the ocean or because they were cooling-off. Whatever the explanation, it was an incredible sight to watch so many of them.
Watching Blue Penguins in Oamaru is a far more organised affair than at the Bushy Beach colony. Admission is via a Visitor Centre where we bought tickets to a 350-seat grandstand. We did see about 80 birds that night, as well as some later who had strayed into the car park, but we were not allowed to take any photos or videos of them. Nor does the Centre make any film -footage available on its website.
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