This small town that was going bankrupt decided to go in a direction no one could imagine. Instead of going further into debt to renew the old Victorian buildings, they went backwards in time. They made themselves stand out with not moving forward, but preserving what they had. Within short time people became interested, not only for the history aspect, but also for the yearly steam punk festival held there every year.
Steam Punk Museum
If this is your type of scene or not, it is a must visit and one of a kind experience in New Zealand. It has both an indoor and outdoor area with a lot of photo opportunities. You will see vehicles that looks to be straight out of Mad Max outside, while one of the rooms inside is straight out of a labratory. If you truly want to go all in while inside the museum they do rent clothes that you can wear. This will be right by the reception and if you do not see it, just ask the reception about it they will show you. There even are shoes, I did not look at the sizes though, but you can truly go full out.
Victorian Precinct
This is the area that is preserved from the 19th-century and has a lot of odd and interesting stores. My favorite place here is the Whitestone City where you can get information about the precinct and Oamaru, but it is also a museum. It is free to enter and you donate what it is worth. Why this is the headlight for me, is because they had a ride with Penny Farthing. With the help to get up, it went well until I got instructed that I can try to slide down the gigantic front wheel to get down. I was sure my clumsiness would make me fall, but it went surprisingly well. The rest of the museum is designed with stores and other rooms from the 19th-century. This is a must stop.
Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony
Have you ever dreamed of an encounter with the world´s smalles penguin? The blue penguin also known as fairy penguin. This is where they come back to shore after a day at sea, however no pictures is allowed so I only went there at the day while they are still out at sea, so all I saw was some sea lions. But this is a magical experience which I did in Dunedin. Therefore please go as it is such an adorable experience. Specially if the penguins decides to socialize a little bit before going home. Why I chose Dunedin is because I was allowed to take pictures there as long as my blitz stayed off.
Here are some of my unedited photos from my phone while walking through the city towards Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony. The picture to the far left is the ride where you can test out Penny Farthing while on the far right is from the childrens park by the sea. It is so unique and true to the city´s theme or maybe more so to the steampunk museum. I only tried the gigantic hamster wheel as I call it, but I did not feel like getting caught in the rain for a sexond time of the day, so I returned to my hotel after enjoying a small session in the hamster wheel.
My only regret in Oamaru
I did learn that with a 10 minutes car ride, or a 45 minutes walk from the Blue Penguin Colony there is a yellow eyed penguin colony. At this point I did not have a car, so I was too afraid to walk there, it was also uphill and it was getting dark. To walk back in the dark and possibly rain did not tempt me one bit, it was a risk I did not want to take. And it did start raining so I am grateful for not going, but this was my only chance to see a yellow eyed penguin. Kinda sad about that. If you are in Dunedin they do have a colony there as well, but I went to see the blue penguins instead so I missed the opportunity once again. When you only have one night and that is when both of them are at the same time, you will have to make a choice. The simple reason I went with blue penguins is that you are almost certain to see blue penguins compared to the yellowed eyed one, leading me to the decision that I took.
Also all of the penguins you will see are wild animals and not in capture, so it makes it that much more special.
Rover Saga 