Into the New Year, and onwards to new adventures…

#newzealand #travel #adventure #southislandroadtrip #mtb

So we left Wanaka with mixed emotions. On the one hand, we wanted to stay, the weather had been fantastic and the place offered us plenty to keep us busy. On the other hand, we came here to see the country, and that is what we must do. So onwards, to new destinations…..

First stop, Oamaru. This place is known as the Steampunk capital of New Zealand and it didn’t disappoint…I loved it! But before I get on to that, I must tell you it is also known for its Yellow-eyed Penguin Colony (according to the signs on site: only 300 breeding pairs :bloke). These penguins are a bit larger (30cm) and much rarer than their little blue cousins, also found here in NZ. They waddle ashore every night at sunset to feed their young and stay until around 3am, before heading back out to sea again. We stayed at a campsite where the penguins came into and it’s surprisingly how noisy the little buggers are. We managed to see a few of them come ashore, they are very cute indeed. We were told not to use any flash on our cameras, so no photos I’m afraid. You’ll just have to take my word for it on this one (and mine! :Bloke).

Now back to Oamaru and the Victorian precinct… It consists of a couple of streets of some of NZ’s best-preserved Victorian commercial buildings, and offers a glimpse of what life may have been like for the early settlers.

We visited Whitestone City, which offers a replica Victorian streetscape and interactive attractions, such as a schoolroom, complete with slates and a schoolmistress. We were given the tour by a local lady, wearing full Victorian garb, whose grandfather had made the journey to new pastures from Scotland, as one of the first settlers. In its time Oamaru was the 7th largest city in New Zealand, due to the huge amount of wheat production in the area. It was a large port town, with a somewhat boisterous reputation, mainly due to the average age in the town being quite young ( I think she said 29). Interestingly, the percentage of male to females were 50/50, so I guess the women were as bad as the men, (possibly due to the amount of brothels in town? (I didn’t see any!?!?! :bloke)).

Not only was the Chemist well stocked, but it had some very useful advice on hand. (According to the index, it is reasonable to assume people often found themselves accidentally hanging by a rope around the neck…. :Bloke)

That barber shop chair on the right is lovely

After wandering around the streets, looking in all the interesting shops and galleries, we headed over to the main attraction (well for me anyway). This is what I came here for, Steampunk HQ. This place is packed full of ancient machines and industrial detritus from the last century, bought back to life and reimagined in interesting and quirky ways. We spent a good few hours poking around in there and out in the yard area too. It’s like Disney world for adults with a slightly warped twist (humbug to health and safety, again! 😎 :bloke). Brilliant!

(such great fun playing at mad pseudo-scientists and mad max characters! :Bloke)

After all the fun and games we were in need of some serious refreshments and fell upon the local brewery for a few pints of the best Ale we’ve found to date out here. They do love their American style hoppy ales, not to my taste at all, but the bar staff recommended the least hoppy ale they had and it tasted good, even though it came with a warning of being quite strong. We also tried out the Kiwi delicacy of green tipped muscles, which were really bloody good.

The following morning however, I somewhat regretted my excitement for finding a good ale and was paying the price for my over-indulgence. Ooops…. Poor bloke went off to check out the local riding spot on his own while I nursed a very sore head. I was quite pleased with my decision to stay put when he returned not long later, proclaiming it was not worth the bother (3 or 4 little wooden features, lots of climbing and decending on wide smooth paths. Not even a hint of singletrack technical treats 😱 Who ever graded these trails as technicality 4 and 5 hasn’t ridden around the rest of NZ. 😤 :Bloke) .

We left Oamaru and headed south to our next destination of Dunedin. We stopped along the way at a #brownsign – Trotters Canyon Gorge Walk. It was a really nice circular walk, along a river, past some Caves and up into native bush, to the top of the canyon, approx 2 hours. It helped clear my head nicely. Some parts of it were really steep, others rocky, and we were extremely pleased we had opted for walking boots and not our now customary daily footwear of flip-flops or as they call them out here, Jandels. (at last, a proper trail, not a graded footpath! It even had an option of very cool 30 vertical meter rock scramble to a view point at the very top of the ridge :bloke) .

Again, we got back to the car just as it started raining.