Oamoru -April 13/14

We had to cut across the lower end of the south island to get from Te Anau to Oamaru on the east coast. Luckily we had to drive through Dunedin. Time seemed to fly by because we finally were able to get reception to radio stations and I bought a cross stitch to make for our little one.....inshallah!!!! :-) :-) :-) :-)
Dunedin was a lovely Victorian town with many churches. You could definitely see it's connection with the original Dunedin, Scotland...bucket list....I know that once you stop dreaming(our setting goals), you die.
We had a quick lunch and looked around at all the shops that sold merino and possum sweater sweaters/scarves etc. Possum fur is used to slowly reduce the pesty population. Nothing was under $250. We left the idea for a while.
Oamaru is right on the coast and looks like photos of Scotland and Ireland. With hills dotted with sheep.
The town itself looked deserted,  historic and most buildings made of Whitestone   from local limestone quarries. The streets are rife with historic monuments on the boulevards. It gave you a feeling of freedom. We felt like running through the streets.
The maps were covered with illustrations of blue penguins and yellow eyed penguins all around Oamaru and an enthusiastic tourist bureau attendant   said she saw heaps of them other day. Wildlife in the wild had been elusive to us thus far.
We had seen a couple of blue penguins and we/I reallywanted see larger yellow eyed penguins. We were still hopeful as we drove out to the penguin reserve. There was only one young couple there. Walked all the way down to the beach and all we saw were spectacular views.
On the way back, right in the middle of our path was the cutest little yellow eyed penguin....just standing there, preening his feathers. The were signs telling us not to let the penguins see us. We watched him and took many shots of him and then crawled through the bushes behind him. He must have heard us right as we passed him and he started to waddle away. That would be the only, yet perfect yellow eyed penguin we saw.
I went to try to find some more later that evening but only saw lazy, yet territorial sea lions. We're learning that sea lions are different from seals we have in North America because they are gentle natured and not vicious.
We had lunch in Maeraki at Fleurs Place where all fish is fresh from the sea cooked under the watchful eye of chef.....
We left Oamaru early to try to make it back to Christchurch in time for royal visit!
We made it just in time! Wish we could have been closer but it was still a thrill to be distant spectators.
Christchurch had a different comfortable feeling as opposed to the heart oppressing feeling when first arrived to New Zealand. We felt so much richer for the exciting experience of exploring one of most beautiful countries and kindest people in the world!!!! Great planning Norm! :-)