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When you put too many artistic souls in one place it can go a bit wrong, a bit Oamaru. This town prides itself on its Victorian heritage and is grasping hold of the past with both hands. A curious mix of comfortable, familiar feeling limestone buildings with an undercurrent of creativity. Trying to maintain things as they once were but trying to be different and stand out at the same time. Don't get me wrong, I like this town a lot for its kookiness, but it has made me feel uneasy at the same time!
Before I headed home I had an alternate career moment. The very sweet Korean family in the cabin next to me asked me to take them to the coach station as there were no taxis available. Julz Cabz existing for approximately 10mins and went bankrupt as I refused to accept money from them. Orthodontics it is!
I started my town tour with a visit to Steampunk HQ. For those of you who are not aux fait with it, Steampunk constructs a future where steam power still rules. Steampunk HQ describes itself as an ancient home to curious machines, steam powered aetheric devices from other worlds, portals unexplainable mysterious dimensions and unusual sights to fascinate and delight! Jules describes it as an artistic scrapyard which scared the bejesus out of her on more than one occasion! I counted 6 dental chairs, one surgical operating light, 1 demo set of teeth and more skulls than I could count! I'm pleased I went but I've had enough for at least 10 years! See the pics....
To reduce my blood pressure I took a stroll through the Victorian part of town, stopping to look in galleries, workshops and the bakers for a lovely cinnamon and custard bun. I balanced this indulgence with a fresh juice which included celery and kale amongst other things.
I continued my stroll along the sea front to the penguin colony, sadly, to get a photo of the infamous penguin crossing sign! I stopped at the steampunk themed kids playground on the way back and spent more than a couple of mins swinging in a thing that looked like an upside down turtle shell. Content with my fix of arty, Victorian a and darn right scary, I headed back to my cabin for an early supper created in superwok! The question is.. Is this his last supper?
I boarded the penguin bus and was greeted by Dennis who was a founder of the Oamaru little blue penguin colony. We took a leisurely drive through town, learning about its history and then headed out to Bushy beach to seek yellow eyes penguins. From some distance we spotted 5 of these, the rarest penguins in the world, as the sun set. See photo if you want to play spot yet penguin! They were better viewed through bins!
We were then taken to the LBP colony, where we all sat in a grandstand waiting for the LBPs to return home from their day at sea. These are the smallest penguins in the world and average 30cms long. They only come onto land under the cover of dark so we waited patiently until 9:40 before the first ones arrived. They form rafts of 2-100 penguins at sea and travel in together for safety. It's a pretty covert operation, excepting that they quack like ducks when in their rafts! Once ashore they preen to reduce their heat as they are hot when they arrive. Once this is done they waddle/run/potter into the colony. They have to enter through a gate so they can be counted. We watched 127 come in, although I saw one penguin go in and out a couple of times so probably fewer than this! It was a very touristy thing to do but great fun. My hunt for penguins is complete!
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Louise If you are on your way to Invercargill....Jenny's address is :Otara, Fort Rose Road, RD5, Invercargill....email at the Uni Library is [email protected]. Jenny's husband is Peter.....you would love to see where they live and all the sheep!!! Louise