Oamaru is a town in the South Island of New Zealand. I spent a whole day in Oamaru, looking around the town. There were so many interesting places to see in Oamaru. Oamaru used to be a Maori settlement once upon a time and that’s where the name came from.
Oamaru: The 8 Things You Can Do for a 1 Day Itinerary
1a. Breakfast at Harbour Bakery
The first thing that I started the day with was breakfast at the Harbour Bakery. It was an iconic bakery in the Heritage Precinct and it was located in an old building.
What I loved was how many different types of breads they were selling. They were being sold in plastic bags and were laid out on the shelves for the customers to see.
The bakery looked like one of those old-fashioned bakeries that people would walk into years ago. The bakery case was stuffed with fresh goodies and there were shelves full of decorative items and colorful posters on the wall.
There were so many different kinds of sourdough bread like dark malt and white and specialty sourdough as well as wholegrain loaves. But since I didn’t want to just eat bread for my breakfast, I decided to check out another option for breakfast in Oamaru as well.
1b. Another Breakfast Option Star and Garter Restaurant
The Star and Garter Restaurant was very interesting because it was not only Oamaru’s oldest restaurant, it was also New Zealand’s third oldest restaurant. It had been open since 1908. The Star and Garter was also inside an old building.
The restaurant was quite cozy and there was a fireplace inside the restaurant. There was a small wooden counter at the front and there were a few people inside the restaurant. It felt really home-like.
I wanted to have a pretty light breakfast before I started sightseeing. So I ordered Eggs Benedict, which was served with toast, salmon and a creamy sauce. They also served microgreens with the dish.
I also ordered a cappuccino. It was covered by foam and they served the cup with sugar sachets. Then I was ready to visit all the tourist spots.
2. Oamaru’s Victorian Precinct
My third stop for the day was the Victorian Precinct in Oamaru. It had some of the best preserved Victorian buildings in New Zealand.
There was the Waitaki District Council Building with its tall clock tower. It had earlier been the Oamaru Chief Post Office.
The streets were very walkable and there were tourists everywhere. It was all charming cobbled streets and the buildings were over 100 years old.
I had read that apart from Victorian buildings, steampunk was a very important part of Oamaru history. There were many steampunk museums and boutiques all over the town. Oamaru was known for its steampunk festivals and I had even heard that the locals dressed up in Victorian clothes and roamed around the streets.
I walked past a gift and clothing shop called Presence on Harbour which sold all kinds of local New Zealand goods. Oamaru was a shopping haven.
Then there was a classic Victorian style bicycle parked on one street corner. It had a giant front wheel and a tiny back wheel like typical historic bikes. People could climb up with the help of a step ladder.
There were even train tracks on the road and a tiny train crossing. Pedestrians were warned to look for trains before crossing the street.
The railway crossing was just a little further down the road from the beautiful Waitaki District Council Building.
3. Buggy Robot Gallery, Oamaru
Once I had walked around and seen a little bit of the city, I decided that I would visit some of the galleries and museums that were on my list. I first went to the Buggy Robot Gallery.
It was filled with the most fascinating robots and toys made with waste material.
There were both big and small robots which had been made with old mechanical parts. It was so creative!
There was even a big robot dog made with several boxes!
Then I went to the dazzling Miss Purple Studio.
The studio was crowded with all kinds of fascinating knick-knacks. From clothes to vintage bicycles, they really had it all.
I especially loved all the handmade jewelry. There were necklaces and bracelets and earrings and all the tourists were encouraged to buy New Zealand products.
The glass cabinets and walls were stuffed with things. There wasn’t an inch of empty space to be seen in the shop.
5. Steampunk HQ
Finally, I went to the famous Oamaru Steampunk HQ. The gallery opened in 2011 and became well-known throughout the country. There was a steampunk engine at the very entrance.
I walked through the museum and gallery and I admired all the exhibits. Some of them looked vintage and some looked really futuristic and some even looked like modern art installations.
There were models wearing all sorts of costumes and screens displaying robots. Some of the engines and tractors would periodically let out little bursts of steam.
There was an area where glittering crystals hung from the ceiling and the whole place looked like something out of a fairytale. I really loved the gallery!
There was a huge vehicle displayed outdoors.
Machines with gears and wires and blackboards with math equations on them crowded one room.
The red light in another room gave the exhibit a very eerie vibe.
Typewriters, microscopes and books had been kept on a cluttered table. It was so interesting to see all these old machines that were not used so much nowadays.
The balloon outside caught my eye and the metal flies on the building were really very strange. I didn’t know why they were there but they were an interesting décor.
Then I decided to have a quick lunch at Scotts Brewing Co. They brewed their own local beer and they would even give visitors a tour through the brewery. Commercial beer production in Oamaru had been stopped in 1905 but Scotts Brewery brewed the first Oamaru beer in over 100 years! I had read that there were a lot of bootleggers in Oamaru in those years. They illegally made and sold beer even though it was not allowed. But Scotts Brewery had permits to now brew beer legally.
After my tour of the brewery, I decided to eat some food at the pub. I ordered beef tacos and calamari, as well as pork and prawn meatballs. Everything had a lot of flavor.
It was a nice, sunny space and there were plenty of seating options. It was a cool winter’s day, so it felt especially lovely to sit in the sun. Thankfully my food was also brought out quickly.
I took a look at all the different kinds of ales and lagers that Scotts Brewery made. They ranged so much in taste and color, from the lightest ales to the darkest porters.
After eating lunch, I had a new boost of energy. I went up the hill to the Oamaru Lookout Point. It was located at the highest point of the town and looked out over Oamaru Harbour and the town itself. I walked around and admired the brilliant views. The sky was so blue.
I could see many little boats and yachts on the clear green water.
The town looked much bigger from the lookout point. I could even see the fields and pastures beyond the town. Oamaru was built on a sloping hill.
Signs showed the way to different walks and tourist spots nearby. Everything could be reached by a 30 minute walk.
There was also an old canon at the lookout point.
Finally, my last stop for the day was the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony. It was famous because it had the smallest penguins in the world, the Blue Penguin.
There was so much information on the board outside.
I wasn’t allowed to actually take pictures of the penguin colony so I just took pictures of the reception area from the outside.
