Click the link to see the summary of the trip!
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Oamaru is a beautiful old town with amazing architecture. It is also the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, is the main town in the Waitaki District. The locally plentiful limestone (Oamaru stone) lent itself to carving and good designers, such as Thomas Forrester (1838-1907) and his son J.M. Forrester (1865–1965), and craftsmen utilized it. By the time of the depression of the 1880s Oamaru had become the "best built and most mortgaged town in Australasia"
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| Old building around Oamaru |
Oamaru Public Gardens
You'll feel the magic of Oamaru Public Gardens the moment you enter the classical main gates on Severn Street. Started in 1876, these gardens are a botanical expression of Oamaru's Victorian history. Spring is in the air, and you can smell it! Fresh flowers are blooming and different sections of the gardens boasts different themes. We did not wander far from the main gate because we were running out of time, but we visited a section named "Chinese Garden". They should rename it "Asian Garden" because there was a mix of Chinese, Japanese and Korean relics and flora. Perhaps the Botanists were confused and lump all Asian flowers and decor as "Chinese". It probably seemed all the same to them.
Nonetheless, I've never been able to catch Sakura in full bloom when I was in Japan or Korea, and I was in awe of the magnificent sight that stood before me. I've never seen so many pretty tulips and daisies and so many beautiful flowers all at once!
Singapore's weather is just too hot and humid to grow such flowers and the flowers we get from florists wilt within 2 days.
I love Spring!
Lunch: Fat Sally's
Tel: 03 434 8368
Website: http://www.fatsallys.co.nz/
We were buying small knick knacks from a cute little budget store selling souvenirs and Halloween decorations and we asked the kind lady where she'd recommend us for lunch.
Fat Sally's it was!
I ordered Fish & Chips and Gilbert ordered an open Steak Sandwich. No Regrets.The table next to us ordered some mains and we saw how large the portion was. We were actually discussing what we'd eat from the plate and how we'd pack the rest back.
My Fish & Chips came with 2 large slabs of crumbed fish, green salad with vinaigrette and tons of chips. Gilbert's sandwich came with a huge chunk of beef slab on soft and toasty bread, green salad and TONS of chips.
We obviously couldn't finish the chips. We packed the chips for later!
Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony
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| PENGUINS! |
Tel: +64 3-433 1195
Website: www.penguins.co.nz/
Tour: $10 student rate for day-time behind the scenes tour
Our main intention of visiting Oamaru was for penguins! We stopped by Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony to try our luck to spot some. Apparently, it was still too early to see any. Penguins only come ashore during dusk, and they return out to sea at dawn. Think of penguins as human workers, they leave for work in the day and return home only at night.
We went on a day tour to see the penguins through a viewfinder. That was the only way to see any Blue Penguins during the day time. There were chicks and a female penguin sitting on an egg!
Yellow-eyed Penguin Colony
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| Yellow-eyed penguins |
Fee: Free
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| Bushy Beach |
Because we didn't see many Blue Penguins, we wanted to see more! Headed to Bushy Beach Scenic Reserve. Admission is free as you're not guaranteed to see any penguins. The outlook is perched up high on a cliff and you look down on the beach. At that time of the day, there were NO penguins and not even seals!
After about 15mins, we concluded that we were too early for their return and left. There were plenty of farms with sheep and cows to entertain us though!
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