Recently we spent the weekend in Oamaru.

We had low expectations. Our expectations were highly exceeded. What a quaint little place.

For those who don’t know, Oamaru is the largest town in North Otago on the South Island. The South Island which is where I live right now.

It’s a funny set up here, I wasn’t quite sure how it worked for a while. They don’t have ‘states’ like we do in Aus, they have ‘regions’. There are 16, and 7 in the South Island. We live in the Canterbury region.

Of course, it seems the further south you get, the more amazing the country gets. And whilst Oamaru didn’t have all the highlights of some of the more southerly towns, it certainly had plenty on offer.

The town is set on the sea with a huge history dating back to the 1850’s. There are some important archaeological sites including those at the Waitaki River mouth and at Awamoa, both from the Archai (Moa-hunter) phase.

The Victorian precinct, Oamaru’s main commercial district, ranks as one of NZ’s most impressive streetscapes due to the many heritage buildings constructed from Oamaru Stone. It reminded me of my hometown, Ballarat.

Oamaru has so many second hand shops to choose from I was literally dizzy with delight. I think I may have to buy a new bookcase to accommodate my new second hand books.

And there are gardens.

And penguins. A colony in fact. You can go and watch them march in from their hunting each night if you wish.

But clearly, the most impressive thing would be that Oamaru is the headquarters of Steampunk!

Who knew……..

Oamaru.

It’s worth a visit.