New Zealand: Oamaru

From Christchurch we continued south down the coast to Oamaru, a rather sedate substitution for our Mount Cook adventure (cancelled due to inclement weather), though we still had rain and wind. Oamaru is a rather curious place. Purely by appearances, one would easily judge Oamaru to have been the most prosperous town in all of New Zealand by the many finely carved neoclassical "White Stone" buildings.

The buildings came about because of the nearby stone quarry where the white limestone is particularly easy to work with. Wheat, gold, and port gave rise to all those buildings in the mid 1800s. In more recent years, those Victorian era buildings became the backdrop of the "Steampunk Capital." On top of that, a colony of penguins also make Oamaru their home, and are walled off behind a paywall.

Steampunk HQ building. And a poster for STEAMPUNK NZ FESTIVAL - Frontiers of Steam - 28 May to 1 June 2026




Hiding from the wind near the penguin colony.


Oamaru has the typical NZ small town CBD arcaded Main Street


And here's a view of the town and harbour from the Skyline Walkway.


The Historic Precinct, aka The Whitestone City, is full of magnificent Victorian-era Neo-Classical buildings constructed with local white limestone. First below is the Opera House.




Former Bank of Otago (1871, Left), Former Bank of New South Wales (1883, Right)



Former Oamaru Chief Post Office


Tasty lunch at Noodle Canteen.


The wind was blowing a gale as we ascended South Hill.




Our second morning we tackled the grassy Skyline Trail, walking by sheep and a small observatory, and then connected to the Alps 2 Ocean (A2O) Cycle Trail at the Public Gardens before catching the bus south to Dunedin.
























Buying Some Black Friday Specials at the Woolworths Self Checkout.