Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(
www.oamaru-steam.org.nz
; adult/child/family 1 way $5/2/12, return $8/3/20; 11am-4pm Sun)
On Sundays, take a half-hour ride on a vintage steam train from the Victorian Precinct to
the waterfront.
Oamaru Cycle Works
CYCLING
( 027 439 5331; 4 Wansbeck St; lesson & ride $20)
For a thoroughly Victorian-era thrill,
take a vertiginous ride on a penny farthing along Harbour St. Ask David the owner about
his intrepid penny-farthing trek up the entire length of New Zealand. He also rents out
1940s-style bikes (half-/full day $20/45). Opening hours vary; call for times.
BEST PLACES TO SEE...
Yellow-Eyed Penguins
One of the world's rarest penguins, the endangered hoiho (yellow-eyed penguin) is
found along the Otago coast. It's estimated that of the roughly 4000 penguins that
remain, about a quarter of these nest on deserted beaches in the southeast of the
South Island.
The encroachment of humans on their habitat is one of the main causes of the
penguins' decline, and the penguins have been badly distressed by tourists using
flash photography or traipsing through the nesting grounds; under no circum-
stances should you approach one. Even loud voices can disturb them. For this reas-
on, the best way to see one in the wild is through an organised tour onto private
land, such as through Nature's Wonders (
Click here
)
or Penguin Place (
Click here
)
on the Otago Peninsula, or from the cliffs at Bushy Beach (
Click here
)
near
Oamaru.
Little Penguins
Nowhere near as rare as their yellow-eyed cousins, little penguins sometimes pop
up in the oddest places (window-shopping in Oamaru's Victorian Precinct, for in-
stance). Also known as blue penguins, little blue penguins, korora (in Maori) and
fairy penguins (in Australia), these little cuties can spend days out at sea before re-
turning to their colony just before dusk in batches known as rafts.
Although you might chance upon one at night in Oamaru or on the Otago Penin-
sula, the best places to see them arrive en masse are at Oamaru's Blue Penguin
Colony (
Click here
)
or at the Royal Albatross Centre (
Click here
)
on the Otago Pen-
insula.
