South Island on Wheels: Oamaru

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"

Old building around Oamaru

If you look around Oamaru, you'd notice most, if not all, of its building are made from stone instead of  traditional wood as forests and trees were scarce and building with wood would cost more than taking the stones from the cliffs. Oamaru also used to be a port.

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

Address:  84 Thames St, Oamaru 9400
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

PENGUINS!

Address: Waterfront Rd, Oamaru 9400, New Zealand
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

Yellow-eyed penguins

 Address: Bushy Beach Reserve
Fee: Free

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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Read All About:

• Timaru
• Oamaru
• Hampden
• Dunedin
• Queenstown
• Lake Wanaka
• Fox Glacier
• Franz Josef
• Arthur's Pass

Lazarus Island: Singapore's not so best kept secret.

Think of a place when I say there's white sandy beaches. 

Krabi? Nope! 

With clear waters and you can still see your toes even when you're waist deep!

Bali? Nope!

And the sea is dotted with expensive yachts with bikini girls sun bathing?

Maldives? Nope!

It is in fact in Singapore! It is none other than one of Singapore's best kept secret, Lazarus Island!


Everyone's talking about Lazarus Island these days & how it is Singapore's best kept secret. 

It is part of 8 islands (Kusu Island, Lazarus Island, Pulau Seringat, Pulau Tekukor, Saint John's Island, Sentosa and the two Sisters' Islands) which make up The Southern Islands. Lazarus is almost entirely undeveloped, with little more than a bit of jungle and a beach. If you thought St John's was quiet, wait till you come here!

To get to Lazarus Island, you first have to take a ferry from Marina South Pier. Purchase a ticket from the small orange booth of Singapore Island Cruise & Ferry Services. A round trip ticket will cost you $18 (only cash or NETS! So bring enough).

Getting to Marina South Pier: http://www.sentosa.com.sg/en/nature/southern-islands/getting-to-marina-south-pier

Marina South Pier

Singapore Island Cruise & Ferry Services:

Address: #01-04 Marina South Pier
Tel: 6534 9339
Opening Hours: 8am-4.45pm
Ferry Schedule: http://www.islandcruise.com.sg/ferry-schedule.html

I would suggest you go on either a Sunday or a Public Holiday as the ferries are more regular and departs every 2 hours. If possible, try to take the first ferry to St John's Island, because the ferries tend to get very crowded.

The ferry ride will take 30mins to St John's Island than 15mins more to Kusu Island.

Turn left after you alight from the ferry

Once you disembark from the ferry, turn left and walk along the pathway next to the jetty.

Just a straight road

 At the end of the path, turn left again and you will see this sign pointing out the direction of Lazarus Island. This is the ONLY sign you will see.

Signage of Lazarus Island

 Once you turn left, you will see a straight dam/causeway to lead you to another island. This is also a favorite fishing spot of many anglers.

causeway to link St John & Lazarus

The causeway: another straight path

Continue taking the path and soon you'll be surround by vegetation. Just walk along the path.

continue walking!

and walking

 After walking for about 10-15 mins from the causeway, you'll see a clearing just like this and a 'path' in the grass from many people walking through it.

I see the sea!

Be brave and bash through the grassland! You can start to see the sea, the beach and many yachts!

be brave!

Finally! The beach! It is quite an effort walking/finding the beach. & even though it is claimed as Singapore's best kept secret, it is a secret no more. Groups of families and friends are seen everywhere on the beach!

The beach of Lazarus Island

 No doubt there's spots of clean areas on the beach, majority of the beach is actually quite dirty, littered with trash and plastic bottles. At first I was disheartened and I thought that Lazarus was really becoming popular, as people bring their trash and tend to just leave them behind, but as we were walking down the beach, in search of a clean spot, we saw many bottles/brands that only Indonesia has. The current brought them in.

Not very clean either

 We eventually found a clean spot, settled down, and had our lunch!

picnic!

I felt that the beach was too narrow. At one point when the tide was coming in, we were running out of sand to sit on, and had to put our stuff on the grass.

Swimming time! 

As you can see, there are no shelters, no benches, and definitely, no toilets. It is as natural as you can imagine. Gilbert and I are both very fuss free, we didn't really cared, as long as we had our picnic cooler!

yachts behind me!

Do not expect corals and fishes, this is still Singapore. Just be thankful for the white sand and clear waters in Lazarus. Once in a while, the sea bug will bit me and it will itch/hurt, but other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed myself!

Clear Waters!

 I am still undecided if Lazarus Island and it's beach is worth all the hassle of finding parking, packing and carrying the cooler, taking the ferry, and walking for almost 25mins in search of the beach. Maybe I'll come back when I have enough money to rent a yacht!

Happy boy built his own tub!