3 March 2013 Oamaru NZ

Last night we went to Spags Italian Restaurant for tea and then walked down to the Lantern Festival along the river in Christchurch’s western parklands.
Guess what, Lantern Festivals are best viewed at night, who would have thunk!!!
There were thousands of people there, with a stage with various Chinese themed entertainment, food and merchandise stands and lantern “sculptures” on both land and in the river that ran alongside the parklands. We all enjoyed the walk around.
We had a great nights sleep, but poor Georgie looks like she has caught a bug and is a bit under the weather.
We left Christchurch for Oamaru at 10am, it’s a 245km drive. There wasn’t a lot to see on the way down, the hills/mountains to the west were covered in cloud and we had a few spots of rain. There must have been a bikers gathering somewhere down south, we have never seen so many motorcycles on the road, all heading north. It was even more than we have seen leaving Phillip Island after the GP!
We stopped at Timaru for lunch. We grabbed a bite to eat at a local pub and then walked down to have a look at the farmers market that was on. Unfortunately we just missed it. On the way there we walked over a bridge called “The Matramonial Bridge”, it had about a dozen padlocks fastened to the wire sides. Each padlock had the names of a happy couple engraved into it. All but one were keyed locks I guess the owners threw the key away. There was one lock there where they must be keeping their options open, it was a combination lock. 🙂
From there it was a short drive to Oamaru, where we have a house for the night. Georgie still wasn’t too well, so she decided to have the afternoon lying down while we went to explore the town. The town has 2 main drawcards, an historic Victorian era precinct and penguins (two types – Blue and Yellow Eyed).
The Historic Precinct was amazing, we haven’t seen so many well preserved old buildings in one area since Europe. It was a great look back in time and was a lot of fun roaming around looking into a few of shops that were now using them. There was even a Whisky Shop that gave out free tastings!!!!
The area is also known, apparently, for its Whitestone Cheese. So we called into the cheese factory had a few samples, all of which were very good (but we didn’t buy any) and then we had a look at their factory viewing area. The factory wasn’t working but the cheese maturation room looked delicious.
Deb has been delighted ever since we arrived in Oamaru, there are “Fairies” everywhere!! (hundreds of them) So she has been telling us, :-), yes there are those wind bourne floating feathery seeds drifting all around town. Yes, I think her innerchild is very much alive. 🙂
Got back to the house and Georgie was still in hibernation mode, not well enough to go out looking at penguins, or dinner for that matter. So Deb, John and I headed out again. After picking up some Subway, we drove down to Bushy Beach to eat dinner and see the rareYellow Eyed Penguins come ashore. We were told that these penguins come in between 6 and 7pm (an hour or 2 before sunset). We got there about 6:30 and people were already wondering if any would ever show up. We noticed that there were 4 seals/sea lions hanging around the beach and in the water, we guessed waiting for penguin dinner (and so scaring the penguins off). At about 7.15 Deb spotted a penguin about 25m off the beach, and in no time it was waddling its way up the beach towards its’ burrow. About 10 minutes later we saw what looked like a large chick standing by the waters edge just looking out (I guess it was wondering where its meal was), it eventually went back up the beach. The wind picked up and the temperature went down so we called it a night and went around to see the Blue Pengins at the end of Wharf Rd. On the way we detoured to Lookout Point to get a panoramic view down over the city and up the coast. The views were fantastic, but the wind chill was more than our clothes could handle, so we didn’t stay long. The Blue Penguins come in from 8:15pm onwards, and to see them properly you have to go on a paid tour. We didn’t want to wait around, or pay to see half an hour of penguins coming home (we have done that on Kangaroo Island), and it was getting colder. On the way out we stopped to have a look at an old wharf that had been taken over by a cormorant colony. There were hundreds of them and they gave the area a distinct fishy aroma.
Tomorrow, we will take Georgie for a drive through the “Victorian Precinct” of town before we head off further south to Invercargill, calling into Moeraki and Dunedin (at least) on the way.