"Oamaru, Penguin Country..." Top 5 Page for this destination Oamaru by kenmerk

Oamaru Travel Guide: 50 reviews and 98 photos

Downtown Oamaru

Well, I have to say that Oamaru is a town that is certainly worth visiting....

It has two nearby penguin colonies (one blue penguins and one of the endangered yellow eyed penguins) and also an interesting historic downtown section.

You can have your whole day layed out for you here. Visit the downtown section during the afternoon, then head over to the yellow eyed penguin colony at about 5 PM. Here you can sit in the penguin blind and watch a few hit the beach on their way home.

I would then highly recommend the guided tour down into the restricted nesting area. The guide will take you right up to a couple of the nests where it is easy to take close up pictures of the penguins nesting...

Head back to town for some dinner and buy a bottle of wine... After dinner, at about 9:30 PM, its about time for the Blue Penguins to start coming back in... Sit back and enjoy a few glasses of wine as you watch the little guys invade the beach...

It does make for an enjoyable (and full) day in Oamaru...

Last visit to Oamaru: Dec 2002
Intro Updated May 28, 2003
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Reviews (9)

Blue Penguins Gathering up on the Beach... - Oamaru

Gathering up... Things to Do (9)

Blue (or Fairy) Penguins are more common than the yellow eyed ones. Also, they come back from the daily fishing... more travel advice

Baby Yellows... (Browns ??) Things to Do (9)

If you come to Oamaru in the summer time, you may be fortunate enough to see some babies yellow eyed penguins in the... more travel advice

Blue Penguins Waddling Back Home... - Oamaru

... and Heading for Home... Things to Do (9)

... and then watch as they waddle off single file to their nests in the rocks... Quite the Spectacle... more travel advice

The Endangered Yellow Eyed Penguin... - Oamaru

Endangered Species.... Things to Do (9)

The yellow eyed penguins are one of the most endangered of the penguin species. There are only about 4000 or so in the... more travel advice

Comments (10)

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dragontml Jan 16, 2004 at 1:14 AM

hhmmm, yellow eyed penguins, i saw in dunedin and it was much fun watching these little guys.....;-) only had a lunch stop at oamaru and it looked like a very historical town.
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Bwana_Brown Dec 6, 2003 at 9:45 PM

Interesting penguin facts - never knew about this place! Also, looks like very interesting architecture in the town! I would love to visit NZ!!!
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pepples46 Sep 27, 2003 at 2:35 AM

delightful, absolutly delightful .....and Janet Frame grew up here in Oamaru, NZ most famous contemporary writer...HaPpY BiRtHdAy Kenny:-) the white pengie ..ya missed :-(
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Guantanamera Sep 26, 2003 at 6:45 PM

An economy based on penguins and pretzels... Interesting...
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tpangelinan Sep 21, 2003 at 6:54 PM

Yellow Eyed Penguin! Really unusual pictures and great shots of the wild life!! Love the penguin crossing sign!
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solo_mc Sep 3, 2003 at 5:31 PM

Penguin walking is our last exercise fad. It is supposed to give you a lovely looking back.
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Geisha_Girl Jun 23, 2003 at 7:57 PM

"I believe the word you are looking for is "Aaaaahh!" (Penguin addressing Catwoman in "Batman Returns")
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craic Jun 4, 2003 at 7:23 AM

Love your NZ pages. Hope you have many more to come. BTW Oamaru is the only word I have seen misspelled in The New Yorker. Plus an alpha male would have found a mate. LOL The loner one must be a deta male.
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syllybabe Jun 4, 2003 at 3:09 AM

Good info about penguins, Ken. They're cute.
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herzog63 May 29, 2003 at 10:54 PM

Wow Ken! I'd love to see Penquins in real life!! Great pictures!! Oamaru would be worth it just for that!