Oh Oamaru - Night 106

By some miracle I managed to wake up on

time. Having failed to arrange the return of my key deposit last night, I quite begrudgingly forfeited the $10 as my bus pickup was prior to the opening of the front office. Also to be recorded in the “I’m a dipshit” file, for the second time in three days I left an expensive, microfiber towel at the hostel.

On our way out of town, the Magic Bus stopped at the elusive world’s steepest street. Turns out I was only a few blocks away yesterday. Talk about anticlimactic. My wanderings were a waste of time, as the street was not nearly as steep as one would think. Nursing my hangover, I declined trying to walk up it. An hour into the drive, we stopped at a small café located along the sea in an area littered with strange, spherical rocks formed by some sort of limestone accretion or something…I wasn’t really listening to the driver. By 11 we had made it as far as Oamaru, my stop for the night. I was dropped off at the far southern part of town, and it turned out my hostel was located on the far north, nearly two miles away so I had to hike it through the elongated beach town with all my possessions in tow.

Whisky Distillery and Pub

Finally arriving at the Chillawhile Backpackers, I tossed my bags in the hallway of the old Victorian mansion and made a predatory search for some lunch, my post drinking hunger having overtaken me. The Chillawhile is a large home that Kelly and her unnamed husband have turned into a small backpackers. Very friendly and relaxed, they offer free internet and laundering services. It turns out that Kelly had messed up my reservation and the only bed left was a large queen bed that they normally don’t use, so as a result of her error I got a free upgrade to much nicer sleeping quarters.

In the afternoon I walked to town to see

Penguin Colony

the Blue Penguin colony, at which all the birds were currently out fishing so it wasn’t all that exciting. Oamaru also has a quaint, two-block square of very old buildings complete with stone streets and sidewalks. Strange visions of Prague and Bratislava filled my head. I stopped at the Whisky distillery for drink and a look around. Such concluded my day in Oamaru.

What I Learned Today: It is entirely possible to walk off a hangover…a stiff sea breeze helps as well.

written by

exumenius on January 24, 2008 from Timaru, New Zealand

from the travel blog: Kiwis and Kangaroos

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