After a month, we are back again in white and sunny Oamaru.
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| Thames Street is Oamaru's main street. It was constructed in the late 19th century and owed its expansive girth to the need to accommodate the minimum turning circle of a bullock cart (with at least 16 oxen in front of the heavy cargo load). |
Oamaru is a fairly small town with an interesting history of ups and downs.
Nowadays the town is in a definite up period with massive restorations of the many Victorian buildings made of the milky local limestone (called whitestone).
The Victorian precinct near the harbour is particularly gorgeous ...
... with bars, cafés, galleries, bric-à-brac and bookshops.
Today was warm and sunny and people of all ages, genders and forms relaxed in the laid-back ambience of the precinct.
Here were all things you need in life: Adventure books, timeless treasures, a faithful dog, a campervan, – and even some lavish soap to wash away any dirty thoughts.
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| Runner # 379 on his last 500 meters. |
Today was a special day in Oamaru for ultra runners. The Alps-2-Ocean ultra run from Mount Cook to Oamaru harbour finished right at the end of the Victorian street.
125 runners started at the foot of Mount Cook and 79 runners (some walking the last bit) finished at Oamaru's ocean border after running 323 kms split in 7 stages over 7 consecutive days.
Time for a well-deserved beer and a sandwich.
The harbour piers were built around 130 years ago when New Zealand began shipping frozen mutton and lamb meat from Oamaru to the U.K. The commercial harbour activities stopped completely 50 years ago.
Now people visit the harbour area mostly to watch little Blue Penguins waddle between the sea and their colony near the beach every dusk. The BP habitation is in the greenery at the foot of the cliff in the background.
Alongside the harbour this mural on the local rowing club commemorates the 100th year of Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated "Terra Nova Expedition". – In the early hours of February 10th 1913, the Terra Nova arrived at Oamaru harbour and sent two men ashore in a rowboat. They brought with them a coded message that was relayed back to the expedition's New Zealand agent. The message explained that Robert Scott and his party had died in Antarctica on their arduous return journey from 90°S after having realised that the Norwegian Roald Amundsen and his team had beaten them in the race to the South Pole.
Oamaru is a very picturesque spot of the Otago east coast ...
... and it is not all flat as a pancake.
We are accommodated for two nights in Eden Street ...
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| Eva in Eden. |
... in a small and colourful cottage and surrounded by a big lush garden.
Oamaru: Turquoise at the bottom ...
... and green at the top.
. . .
We are presently winding down from the past 6 weeks of intensive travelling. Tomorrow morning we will grab an InterCity bus and after four hours arrive in Christchurch; – the last stop of our long sojourn on the South Island.
