Oamaru

Oamaru accommodation sits in limestone streets above a waterfront where little blue penguins come ashore at dusk. Cottages and holiday homes put the old harbour quarter within a walk, past a bookbinder, a whisky bond store and the reworked machinery of Steampunk HQ.

November brings the Victorian heritage celebrations, penny-farthings and all. At Bushy Beach, a hide looks down on the yellow-eyed penguins coming in.