Oamaru: The Strangest Place I’ve Ever Been

While on our 3 week road trip in New Zealand last spring Kathleen and I decided to cut Milford Sound (due to horrible cold and rain-for-days forecasts). This gave us some extra time to fill. After a bit of googling we decided to head on over to Oamaru: New Zealand’s Self Proclaimed Steampunk Capital of the World. Now neither of us had any particular interest in Steampunk but our Dad does so we thought why not pop in so we could tell him all about it and also – there were penguins.

Here’s how our experience went:

We arrived into the small town around 1:30 pm on the 9th of May. Almost instantly we were struck by how weird and empty the place felt. Lonely Planet describes the town as having a “wellspring of eccentricity bubbling under the surface” and of having the potential for “extreme Kookiness.” Well, I can tell you that extreme kookiness doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface… 

Abel Tasman: Don’t worry, we’ve got time…

May 1st 2015

Abel Tasman National Park is the one of my favourite places in New Zealand. When I started planning my trip back I knew right away that it was a must on the list of things I wanted to share with Kathleen.

The park itself, located on the Northwest tip of the South Island, is the smallest national park in the country, but remains highly popular due to its 60 km Coastal Track – one of New Zealand’s “9 Great Walks.”

Our day started early with the 1 hour drive from our hostel in Nelson to Marahau where we were due to meet the water taxi for a lift up the coast to Bark Bay. From here the plan was to spend one amazing day soaking up all that the park had to offer as we walked the 21 km back out to our car.