Oamaru

The drive to Oamaru wasn't too far, but we had some time to kill as we couldn't check into our backpackers until 3:00 p.m. We first stopped in Moeraki to look at the Moeraki boulders. 

They are huge, spherical boulders along a small stretch of beach in the town of Moeraki. They are created through heat and compression of old Paleocene era mudstone into their spherical shapes and were uncovered though the erosion of the hillside along the beach.

It was a nice, warm day and so we did some walking along the beach and stopped to get pictures of the boulders. 

We got into the town of Oamaru, which was pretty small and so we just popped into the local museum. It was actually pretty good for such a small museum.

We were then able to check into our backpackers called Old Bones, about kms south of Oamaru right near the beach. We learned later that it was called Old Bones because when the owners were doing digging for the foundation of the place they found old moa bones on the property. Moa are an extinct relative of the Kiwi and became extinct about 500 years ago, having been hunted by the Maori. 

The backpackers was incredibly nice and probably one of the nicest we've stayed in. The host was an older woman, but she was extremely informative and friendly. All of the bedrooms were off of the main room that had a big wood burning stove, comfy couches, and a really nice kitchen all in one big area. 

The rooms were really nice, only twin and double rooms (but only $30 per person) and the rooms each had their own central heating. It was really nice. 

We had GrabOne coupons for the Blue Penguin Colony that night in Oamaru. The last wildlife that we really wanted to see. The viewing started at 5:00 and we got there quite early. The place has a no photography policy for the "protection of the penguins" even though they have lights shining on the colony so you can see them in the dark when they come in at dusk. However, you could purchase THEIR photos for $2.00 a pop. I smelled BS, but unfortunately they had 2 staff that were present for the entirety of the viewing so you couldn't sneak in a picture. Lame. 

We did see a lot though. Close to 90 returned to nest that night and they arrived in several big groups over the course of an hour. The place had built tons of nesting boxes for all the penguins that they all used for shelter. It was really cool to watch them come in--they were so small! They all climbed up the rocks in their groups and waited a bit to cool off, before heading all together into the fenced-off nesting area. 

We were lucky and one of the penguins came right up the rocks and right in front of where the viewing podium was (other wise they were a good 30 feet away). So it was cool to see one up close and actually see it's true size. 

There is also a public blue penguin colony in Kaikoura and so if we made a trip back up there hopefully I can get some of my own pictures.

The penguins made a lot of noise when they all started returning to their nests. It was their way of communication while also solving nesting disputes. They were quite loud and kind of sounded like babies. 

We headed back to our super nice hostel for the night and enjoyed a yummy dinner and chatted up one of the other guests in the backpackers--a nice older guy from Dunedin. We ended up discussing some interesting topics like politics, music, and the growing obesity problem in the US. Kinda random, but really nice guy.

Unfortunately we only stayed the one night--I would have loved to stay longer. But the owner of the backpackers did give us great suggestions for places to stop the next morning. We headed a bit more down the road to a place called Totara Lowlands. The people there specialize in growing cherries and hazelnuts. They also have special lowland cattle that are small and very hairy. They have a shop there where they sell all kinds of goodies made from hazelnuts and cherries. Jams, spreads, chutneys, dessert toppings, dips, butters--plus they sell straight up cherries in different liquids (brandy and pinot noir) and hazelnuts as well. However,  the reason we stopped there was for their $5 cherry hazelnut sundae. It was cherries topped with their cherry vanilla dessert topping, layered with vanilla ice cream, and topped with hazelnuts. As it was only 10:30 in the morning when we got there, it was a delicious breakfast!

The other places we stopped was a famous cheese factory right in Oamaru called Whitestone cheese. We went into their cafe where we were treated to a free tasting of three of their cheeses--a nice cheddar, a brie, and a new cheese they they haven't even put up for sale yet that is a goat and sheep milk blend. We also were able to take a peek into their factory to watch them make cheese--though they were just cleaning the facilities that day. We also saw their aging room where they age their famous Windsor Bleu Cheese. 

It was a yummy start to the morning, and it was good to fill our tummies as we made the three hour drive to Akaroa!