Ranui Retreat Bed and Breakfast Oamaru

... Oamaru.  On the way, we stopped by to see the round rocks on the beach at Moeraki.  Its very very round and from millions of years ago.  A nice break from the driving.  We arrived at Oamaru and decided to have an afternoon tea break where I saw in the Lonely Planet guide book where the Whitestone Cheese Factory is and they raved about their Cheesecake.  We made in just in town before they closed at 5PM.  I have to say people seem to have dinner very early here where I ...

Oamaru was a great surprise. I thought it'd be another crummy little town, but it turned out to have enough interesting bits for me. I started off by going to the info site to see what teh town had to offer. Penguins are HUGE there. Blue and yellow-eyed penguins go out each morning and come back at dusk, so I was sure to allow time for that. The main drag had a bunch of good shops, bookstores, and such. I also went to the museum ...

... boulders. Some have a 'crazed' pattern and others have already broken open and look just like enormous broken gobstoppers! So where does Rick Stein come into this? Well, when he was told he could choose to go anywhere in the world to write a travel article for the Daily Mail, he chose Fleurs Place which is in Moeraki, New Zealand. It is close to Dunedin and so, on another ...

... stopped and the town basically froze so all the old buildings are still standing. Oamaru is also famous throughout the SI for Oamaru stone - a white limestone used for building and for sculpting. On Saturday we went for trip with Mary and Bill (Mary in NZ is Mary's cousin) into the lakes - what a fantastic drive. I'll put in a couple of photos. There's Lake Aviemore and Lake Benmore and further north we look across Lake Pukaki to Mt Cook - the scenery is just ...

This day was fantastic! After leaving what felt like the worlds most undulating town of Timuru behind we: Cycled across the 45th Parallel, which had a sign and a plack (see photo's) but no parking so probably the only people appreciating it are cyclists or maybe the odd biker. Then keeping up a impressive pace cycled to Oamaru a town which included a cafe in which we hid ...

... went here, and ate cheese... we purchased two cheeses which we ate in the car with crackers and pepperoni... YUM! 3. NZ Malt Whiskey Company - this was a treat for me especially as i like the taste of single malt whiskey. not only did i get to sample four or five different types, but i also got to learn a bit as well... did you know that Scotch is basically single malt whiskey made in Scotland? only whiskey from scotland is called scotch ...

Oamaru was not what we expected. I thought I had mastered reading between the lines of our Lonely Planet, but alas, once again we had been led astray. I pictured a quaint little seaside town, with mischevous little penguins waddling around everywhere. After all that was the lure, Oamaru, the so-called penguin capital of New Zealand. Roll up roll up to see the little critters. What we got instead was a bog standard kiwi town full of Mickey Ds and chain stores. To ...

... a few metres away rather than a couple of feet, because there were several of us there, making it nervous. The guide was happy to help photograph it with care; no problem. The Blues, however, are in an organised colony. That is to say, there's a grandstand, lights, loudspeakers for a commentary . . . and no photography. OK, I get it: the fifty or so people there had forty flashguns between them and little control of when ...

It is the shortest day today, so I'm guessing that makes it the longest day for you guys at home! Oh dear, I read the newspaper at breakfast and they were having gang problems in Invercargill! Two biker gangs, one set the other ones headquarters on fire! Muriel was telling me that they seem to have a lot of gang problems in NZ, also domestic violence and child abuse is a big problem too, mainly due to drugs and drinking. You wouldn't think that of NZ would you! They ...

... taal) te beantwoorden. Echt helemaal super. Daarna het fotoboek (uiteraard in eerste druk, het is nu al weer in herdruk, dus wie weet wat het nog waard wordt:-) gekocht dat ter ere van de opening is uitgegeven en "Kingdom by the sea" heet; dit was de naam die Janet altijd liefkozend aan Oamaru gaf in haar boeken. Daarnaast gaf ze ook de mensen in Oamaru andere namen, dus kwam er een nieuw boek van haar uit, waren de mensen altijd druk met uit zoeken wie wie was ...