Cheese by the sea...

Oamaru has been a great place to spend a few days. The backpackers we've stayed at, called Chillawhile, is the best I've ever been to. There's an art room full of paints and canvases that are free to use, a music room, and on our first night there was a potluck! Every dish was vegetarian, just by coincidence, which says something about the people that stay here. Robin and I made coconut lentils and banana curry. Everybody had to introduce their dish and strike a pose. It was the most fun I've had eating and preparing dinner at a backpackers.

Kelly (standing) and her daughter Saol (on the couch), are the owners of the backpackers, had hosted us as WWOOFers at her house about half an hour away, in a boring town called Timaru. It was great to get to her backpackers after spending three days in Timaru, where she taught us how to play the djembe African drums.

The town of Oamaru was full of old-fashioned charm, with a dutch bakery, a bookbinding shop (that accepted donations of single malt) quirky art galleries and a whisky T lounge...







The other fun thing we did in Oamaru was visit the cheese factory by the sea, where we spent about half an hour with our noses to the viewing window watching the cheese makers in their oompah-loompah-like factory (maybe had the impression of oommpah-loompahs because they were all wearing white clean suit, hats, goggles and white mudboots).. Pictures were not allowed there though!

Oamaru at night..



This is when the penguins come out.. As we never made it to the Penguin Entertainers Club, so I'm not sure exactly who, or what, graces the stage for Oamaru's nightlife.


I do know what graces the beaches. Penguins. Little Blue Penguins that come onto the beach at 9:30pm every night to waddle across the beach, and road, to their little houses, or to sleep under buildings. Their houses are little white boxes, all numbered and clustered into little (stinky) penguin neighborhoods. On our first night, we only saw one penguin.. On our second night, we saw several.


First, they were just a cluster of black spots on the water, approaching quite fast, we knew it couldn't be seaweed. Then we saw about 8 of them appear on the beach and waddle as fast as they could to their neighborhood, where they preened and stretched until dark. I do have a suspicion that some of them made it to the Penguin Entertainers Club, as I heard the sounds of guitars and drums warming up right after the first group came in...


On our drive home, we saw more penguins! Why do penguins cross the road? To hide under houses and sleep.