New Zealand

Set out from our second night at the Warrington community campsite, heading north along the coast road. Stopped in at Shag Point to see more sealions before driving on to the hamlet of Moeraki then to the nearby Moeraki boulder beach. These boulders are very unusual in the fact that they aren't carved by the elements, instead they have formed as calcite layers around a central core (generally a bone or fossil) much like a pearl in an oyster. Exceptionaly rare, they are up to 3m wide and some are almost perfectly spherical.
We hadn't planned to stop in Oamaru, but an hour in the town meant we wanted to explore more. Unlike many other NZ towns/cities Oamaru escaped the development of the 60/70/80's that replaced Victorian buildings with concrete structures. This has given the town a unique time warp feel of the Victorian age (aside from Mcd's and Dominoe pizza), we even saw a man riding a penny farthing to the pub!! He was later joined by another and no-one seemed to see it as anything unusual. Some buildings are immaculate whilst others have a lived in feel, but the ambience of the town is fantastic.
The harbour also has a colony of Little Blue Penguins. You can pay £20 to £30 to go to a viewing platform to watch them, alternatively find a quiet spot on the harbour, grab a seat and be patient. Whilst we sat quietly a group of Penguins wandered out of the sea, groomed themselves and waddled past us - just a few metres away. As we weren't noisy or threatening a mother brought her fluffy chicks out of their burrow under a shed and fed them right next to us. There were two other people there, just a magical moment.Lue lisää