Oamaru and Timaru

We were sad to leave Moeraki, but keen for the next stage of our adventure which was to be Oamaru. On our last trip I had really enjoyed this area, and I had hoped to catch a glimpse of yellow eyed penguins this time. However, it seems that they are a very shy bird, and you need to be concealed in hides, with a guide and also with a good pair of binoculars. Therefore we had to content ourselves with another walk through the historic quarter in the first instance.

Again, we were surprised to see some of these beautiful old buildings being abandoned and not being restored. They are majestic and sprinkled all through the township of Oamaru. We then took a walk out to the old wharf and that had not changed a lot since our last visit.

The old Sumpter wharf is no longer used and has been cordoned off to humans. The Otago shags have now made it their breeding colony, and it is the largest NZ colony of the birds. They are very territorial, so any other breeds of shags that try to move in are quickly dispatched. At the last official count there were more than 600 nests on the wharf.

The smell coming from the wharf was quite powerful. A few spotted shags roosted on some rocks nearby, and it is probably as close as they are allowed to get.

The Blue Penguin colony is at the end of this road, but we had that experience last time and brilliant though it was, we decided not to do it again this trip.

We spent the night at the NZMCA park at Awamoko that we had not been to before, and probably would not bother to again. It seems to be just a paddock in the middle of nowhere. At least we had a quiet night, and were treated to a great sunset.

Riverstone Castle was on the agenda for the next day, but unfortunately we had chosen to visit on a day that they do not conduct tours through. We therefore had to content ourselves with views from across the lake.

And a wander through their vast vege gardens:

And a browse through their quirky retail area:

From here it was on to Timaru, where Bruce was to meet up with an old work pal from 47 years ago. The story has it that Dave was one of the “mates” who tried to stuff Bruce in a mail sack destined for the South Island on the night of his stag do. Bruce managed to escape but in the process broke his leg, so appeared at his wedding in a full leg cast.

It was a good catch up for the men, and it was nice for me to meet them. They took us out to lunch and we headed away later that afternoon to the dog park, and then to our overnight stay at the Phar Lap racecourse. Apparently is is slated for closure and it may be a good thing. The grounds are unkempt, and the buildings could do with some maintenance (seems to be theme here).

Early the next morning we were woken to the sound of thundering hooves. The nose of the motorhome wasn’t far from the railings so Bruce and Beau watched out the windscreen to the horses galloping by. Beau was not a happy camper! He seemed to thinks that each time they came around the track they were coming to get him, and it took him a couple of days to calm down. We were both a bit surprised by this and it was an easy decision to spend the next night at the NZMCA Park at Waimate. No horses here, only this old buggy!

Before heading to Waimate though, we took the dogs for a beach walk at Caroline Bay, and paid a visit to the South Canterbury Museum. While we were there Beau decided to have a look for himself for another Park Over Property, and the evidence of this was throughout the van.

At the museum, we saw another bit of “Bruce” history. Apparently Bruce’s biscuits were a big thing once (in the 40’s).

Really not sure why he is not making them for me!!!