November 18, 2015 Oamaru NZ

We weren't originally going to stay in Oamaru, but Dunedin was completely booked out because of some concert, so there we were. When we woke up this morning, we decided to have a poke about and we found that oamaru is known as a Victorian Port Town and so it is, there are lots of old buildings from the 1860's era still preserved and turned into a arty crafty precinct. There were also blue penguins on offer but at $40 a head and late at night and freezing cold we left them for the hardy.

But anyhow her are a few snaps just for fun:

'Someone' said we just had to go and see the Moeraki boulders, coupled with this sort of rhetoric "You simply can't drive along the North Otago coast without stopping to stare at the Moeraki Boulders - they're amazing!" led us to believe that  our grand tour de New Zealand will have been in vain if we did indeed bypass them. Are you kidding? There are a few small round rocks on a beach, and while I admit a few small round rocks on a beach is unusual, it isn't all that super-exciting. Make your own mind up:

Moeraki Boulders

Moeraki Boulders

Moeraki Boulders

Moeraki Boulders

Anyhow, it was blowing a gale and pretty damn cold and deference to the hoards of Asian tourists who insist in posing for every picture ever taken, I took a few snaps and scarpered.

From here we clawed our way down the 100km goat track which would rival the Bruce, to Dunedin, where we had some lunch and a welcome rest. Dunedin is home tonight to the great Fleetwood Mac concert, which is why we couldn't stay. I reckon that we were the only ones in the cafe that weren't going.

Where we were going was Invercargill for the night and it was still 200km away and it was 130pm o'clock already. The road is a piece of work, with interminable small towns at 50kph and endless roadworks at 30kph, not to mention the 100kph headwind. Poor old Ssangyong got the workout of its young, and what I'm sure will be a short, life.  We took a shortcut at one place that bypassed a town called Gore, and led us down the country path and eventually came out near Invercargill. Our place is nice enough, and we went for a walk around town and the shops before retiring to a cold wine and a pizza for the night.

The surprise to me is just how much stuff is here for us to go look at, so we might, well, we could get away early in the morning and take in the sights.