Heading back to Oamaru

Monday, we headed downtown for our 2 hour walking tour of Dunedin. Our guide was a retired diplomat who spoke German to the young man on our tour and Italian to his girlfriend. Oh, my!

Dunedin was settled principally by the “free church” Scottish in 1848 who were looking for a place to practice their religion as they chose. In 1861, however, gold was discovered and Dunedin’s population soared with a different kind of immigrant! Our knowledgeable guide assured us, however, that the city fathers spent the new wealth wisely on community buildings, churches, and education before the gold ran out. The city is filled with remarkable buildings many out of Oamaru limestone and a nearby black stone. Most are still in use and well maintained.

the train station

By mid-afternoon, we were headed back up highway 1 to Oamaru. Our plan was to visit a couple of sights in Moeraki, a small town about 25 miles south of Oamaru. Out a long gravel road is the Moeraki lighthouse and, more importantly to us, another hide for seeing the yellow-eyed penguins. Bingo! Although the secluded beach had only one penguin on it, we were quite close and able to watch him preen and waddle on the beach amongst several oblivious and disinterested seals. We climbed the hill back to our car with a feeling of triumph. Now we had really seen the yellow-eyed penguin!

Just a short mile further up the beach we stopped at one of the local wonders: the Moeraki Boulders. We had been advised to arrive at low tide for the best viewing. Definitely a tourist stop, the large spherical rocks are randomly strung out along the beach. The joke is that they are alien in origin but the scientific explanation is that they are concretions or layers of minerals around a central core. Regardless, they are quite striking. We were pleased to be leaving just as a large bus of Japanese tourists were arriving.

a hatching alien??