3. Oamaru

Getting more and more conscious of time as the day wore on, I consulted the lonely planet guide for the town map as I entered Oamaru. I then struck out along the northern coast along the railway line.

Railway

Oamaru Railway Station

I was surprised to come across the railway station apparently deserted. There was not a car or person in sight around it. There was just the union jack fluttering on its pole.

Oamaru Railway Station

The railway station backs on to four tracks and then an eroding cliff face to the ocean bay beyond. It was a surreal feel to walk around the station and tracking.

Limestone Town

The township of Oamaru has a very complete couple of streets of historic limestone buildings. Harbour street is a walk back in time. Although it is tourist focused its not overdone. It still felt much more like walking into the genuine article than many of the other historic towns around the world where it feels like walking into a show.

Oamaru

Harbour St, Oamaru

The Harbour itself adjoins the town, and holds a small collection of boats. It was an interesting place to explore, with all sorts of history lying around .

Oamaru Harbour

Southern Coast

South from the town there is lookout on the hill, and a road and track leading down to Bushy Beach. Bushy Beach itself seems quite an attraction on account of a colony of penguins living there. Cute little penguins are just pure tourist bait. This horse was just standing watching the whole procession go by.

Bushy Beach Rd

After a fairly long stay in the town, I was feeling all behind time and started heading for the road south out of town. Misreading the map, I missed the main road, and instead turned down Thousand Acre Rd which took me back down to the coast and the town of Kakanui. I could tell I was a bit lost, but with the ocean at my left hand I knew I was going in the right direction. It was a lucky find, because it was a really nice area as the hills met the ocean.

South Coast Oamaru

After a while the road rejoined main route 1 as it followed the more inland route. After that there wasn't so much to see, and the weather gradually started clouding in. Still, that helped in keeping me on schedule to get into Dunedin that night.

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