Sat 14th Feb – Sun 15th Feb
Accommodation: Poshtell
Sat 14th February
It was about 9 am by the time we got away for the 4 hour drive across to Oamaru and we were lucky to have good weather. Our first stop was at Tarras as this little township held significance for Colleen given she had worked here on a sheep property back during one her university holiday periods. We marked the occasion with morning tea where we, once again, sampled some excellent home made cheese scones. This bakery item is obviously ’a thing’ in this part of the world as it was the third time we’d enjoyed this delicious food item. We were becoming something of experts on this food category now. One thing worth noting is that Cromwell, the area just before Tarras, was a most beautiful part of this Central Otago region and had numerous vineyards making this another place we’d add as a stopover if we’re ever back in this region.
The next stop after Tarras was a 90 minute drive to the Mount Cook viewing point which was ok except for some cloud concealing the all-important peak of Mt Cook but we got the vibe. It was almost 4 pm by the time we made it to Oamaru and we easily found our accommodation. We were only staying the one night so were in a hotel, Poshtell, which was located within an old commercial building that in one iteration had been a bank. It was a quirky renovation and our room had a safe door so I assume we were sleeping in what might have been past of the bank safe area. Oamaru itself was rather interesting as well. Like many smaller Australian country towns on a Saturday afternoon, there very little was open and few people around but the range of contemporary-style barber shops, tattoo artists, cafes and restaurants lining the Main Street implied that it was a reasonably thriving area. The area is known for its large number of Victorian era buildings located in the centre of town and these were rather impressive: Mark commented, as he emerged from one of the town’s craft breweries we visited, that he thought he was back in the UK. Our dinner was booked in for Fat Sally’s, which had come recommended from a few different sources, and was OK but had the added bonus of being just a 5 minute walk back to our hotel. This proved to be quite handy as we were all quite tired after our big day of travel and were in bed by 8.30 pm!
Sunday 15th February
The boys went for an early ride and Coll and I set out for a walk down towards the waterfront area of Oamaru. It seemed a bit unfortunate that the main railway passed right along the coast line preventing much opportunity to realise the potential of the beautiful beachfront area of Friendly Bay. The railway was clearly important historically when the area was an important port for the export of grain and wool, as well as during the pioneering frozen meat industry period, but that whole market segment has declined significantly. Today the area is more of a tourism hub, with the Steampunk Museum ant its centre, and so the railway location seems a bit problematic.
A continental breakfast was included as part of our room package at Poshtell and this was most enjoyable. After checking out we visited the Steampunk Museum, which was well worth the visit, and took another stroll along Harbour street which was much busier this morning as all the shops were open. Steampunk was a new concept for all of us but is a concept first described in 1987 and many Steampunk art projects were first seen at Burning Man. Coll and I could have happily spent the morning browsing here but had to be selective as we were on a bit of a time budget to get to our next stop. We then had a quick stroll through the Sunday farmers markets that were on just at the end of Harbour Street. Coll and I now wished we’d had more time here as we’d have liked to explore further along the waterfront promenade, possibly by bike, and to check out more of the quirky shops. We only had the one night here but, in my opinion, Oamaru is definitely worth a two night/one full day visit.
