Oamaru

For us, the chief attraction of Oamaru was its limestone architecture--some interesting neo-classical stuff--but we found much else of interest too. Oamaru is on the east coast of the South Island, about half-way down, an older colonial settlement but with much earlier Maori habitation too. We walked about for an hour or two, then moved on, before I was really ready. The old time and tide thing, and the Moeraki Boulders...

The local limestone--Oamaru stone--lent itself to architects,
builders, sculptors, and others in the latter 19th century

Library

Interesting inscription

Forests of acanthus leaves...lots of the buildings had
Corinthian columns

Thus

More ornate limestone

More than a few of the Oamaruvians (!) were of interest
too

Here we learned much about the advanced state of home-
brewing and -distilling in New Zealand

Thus

But Steampunk (look it up) was our real
discovery in Oamaru ("that's news to me"
department)

Thus

And thus

Very interesting little town...but we didn't want to miss the
boulders at low tide, and had to move on...