Oamaru is the largest town in North Otago on the east coast of New Zealand's south island. We had added a night in Oamaru on a whim, when we decided to leave the Lake Tekapo area a day early. 

We spent a few hours making our way across the island, stopping to stretch our legs at picturesque farms and viewpoints. Quite hungry when we arrived, we were all thrilled to dive into massive fresh blue cod fillets, golden and glistening, atop a pile of steaming, crunchy chips. (If you're ever in Oamaru, go straight to Yogis takeaway. Just do it.)

We only had one night, which was also our only chance to see the south island's east coast. So, we went for a little scenic drive.  

White Lightning (our rental car) whizzed past thousands of cows with enviable, million dollar oceanfront views. For miles, we drove with bright green and gold farm fields to our right and the ocean to our left. 

Small rolling waves in shades of sea foam and jade crept up the beach toward the road. Further north, the coastline became rugged, and the road dipped inland, so that the fields and green grasses ran right up to the ocean's rocky edges. 

Back in town, we relaxed for a minute, grabbed our camera and headed into Oamaru's charming downtown. We started off at the Steampunk Headquarters, a museum meets gallery meets fun house. It was mildly educational - we knew little about steampunk beforehand - but mostly sensually intriguing. Inside the old building, there's awesome art to look at, strange videos to watch, weird sounds coming out of old organs (which you're invited to play), tiny rooms to discover, and the pièce de résistance, The Portal. You step into a room covered floor to ceiling in mirrors, with small lights hanging from the ceiling, reflected infinitely across all the other mirrors. Music plays as the lights fade in and out, change colors, creating a surreal, otherworldly experience. We LOVED it so much that we went in twice and are still talking about putting on in our next home. 

After that, we strolled into the older section of town, a cute area with cobblestoned streets and funky little shops. 

Oamaru's town playground isn't just for kids. In fact, I'm pretty sure that most it would never fly in the US. Some of the rides aren't exactly risk-free, and I imagined angry parents sueing well-meaning playground designers. 

After trying a round of beers at a local brewery, we went to Sandfly Beach to try to see the penguins. Somehow, without trying, we had once again collided with the moulting period so the penguins weren't coming up onto the shore (since they hadn't been out in the water all day). 

Oh, well! With air temps dropping fast, we grabbed hearty french onion soup and seafood chowder from a local pub before calling it a night. 

The four of us agreed that adding Oamaru was the right call! The next morning, we packed up and headed inland, back across the island for Wanaka.