Some mornings I have no idea where I am. I wake up and struggle to remember where we decided to stay the previous night. Sometimes it may be the middle of the day and I wonder where the heck we are. There’s no real connection between that thought and this post. I just wanted to share.
At the risk of sounding repetitive this campsite was also a favorite. I don’t know what it was specifically about this place aside from the obvious gorgeous landscape. It’s possible I lived here in another life or maybe it reminded me a bit of Patuisset. There was something very familiar and homey about Pounawea.
We arrived in the early evening and it felt great after being in the car for a while to be in the crisp air and bush walk to the estuary. It was low tide so there was only a couple of inches of water and lots of crabs and cockles. The following night we went cockle hunting for our dinner; no digging involved like quahoging, just reach in and grab a bunch. The magical sunset and the giant tree (how did it get there) we found created an unbelievable setting for our evening stroll. It felt like we were in another time. On our way back we encountered another couple staying at the campsite. They knew the area well and gave us some great tips on where to stay next and the best spot for penguins sightings.
Every beach here is movie-worthy. They’re all completely stunning and often we are the only people on it.
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On our trek north we popped into Dunedin, a large university town, to pick up books and snacks. There’s plenty to do here including visiting a penguin colony, but from past experience city campsites are much less appealing than small town ones. So rather than sticking around we kept driving and, at the suggestion of the older couple, we stayed in Oamaru for 2 nights. As a side note the number of people is NZ has increased exponentially in the past couple of days because of Chinese New Year. We got a heads up from the pilots in Queenstown that things would be getting busy soon. This was the first time we experienced the need for advance bookings since we have been here. We got lucky and scored the last spot in Oamaru and the remaining tickets for the penguin viewing.
Our campsite sat along the harborfront and a family of penguins lives under the kitchen. I have a recording of penguin chicks waiting for their parents. Many people gather on the porch in the late evening waiting for mr. and mrs. P to return but it’s not always a guarantee you will see them. So instead we went with the more formal penguin (blue penguins – the smallest species) crossing down the road.
We waited patiently on the small set of bleachers alongside a rocky cliff for the penguins to arrive. The rafts (a group of penguins floating together) start rolling in around 9 pm but since this is wildlife and not a penguin show they show up when they show up. About half the spectators gave up after 30 minutes which was unfortunate because about 5 minutes later the first group of about 6 landed. They climbed the rocks, carefully avoiding the fur seals scattered on the rocks, and walked across the grass into their nest boxes.
There was some intense drama when the next raft arrived. The first few made it up while one little pokey penguin was still down on the rocks trying to pass the big scary fur seal. When the lil guy got close the seal bonked him on the nose and he tumbled off the rock. The crowd gasped in horror. [Isn’t it funny how in one scenario the seal is the villain but if this was a show about seals then a shark would be a villain and we’d be gasping at the poor seal victim]. It all turned out fine. The penguin made it up the rocks and another set arrived shortly thereafter. The seal seemed tired from the previous standoff and did little to intimidate these penguins. The little blue penguins are tiny and adorable and I want to kiss one.
Although we were in Oamaru for the penguins, it has more to offer. It’s a charming Victorian style town with a quirky vibe. There’s pedestrian-only streets with great shops and a lovely botanical garden. After a stroll through town and the garden we visited Steampunk HQ. This is where the quirky part comes into play. For some, the goth nature of this museum’ish place would be fun but for me it was literally the stuff of my nightmares. Steampunk HQ is sort of an art gallery of scrap metal, old dentist equipment, and a creepy Victorian lady with a tv head in a haunting white dress. Seriously if you took everything I’m afraid of – including antique dolls – and put them in a museum this would be it. Why did I go in here? There were thankfully no clowns but the nearby, antique store with vintage carnival clown heads took care of that. I’ll never sleep again.
Other than that the town is adorbs. We would probably have driven right past it if not for the tip. Oh and the playground was choice bro.
Where is the secret code for my treasure?
you didn’t find it? oh sorry – the competition is now over.