Oamaru TOP 10
Shayne and Tracy Kirk are your hosts at Oamaru TOP 10 Holiday Park. The Park is bounded by the beautiful Public Gardens and just 10 minutes walk to restaurants, shops and the Historic Precinct.
Location
Oamaru TOP 10 is situated on the East Coast in the province of Otago between Christchurch and Dunedin in the South Island of New Zealand.
Oamaru is famous for its Victorian limestone architecture and has a thriving historical precinct. The coast and the hinterland have quite remarkable features.
The town is also famous for it's superb coastal wildlife and walks. The Art Gallery, Museum, Historical Precinct (with it's fully renovated victorian hotel, the Criterion) and the Magnificent Catholic Cathedral are also worth visiting. The town celebrates a proud Victorian heritage, participating in full costume activities, including a procession of Penny Farthings down the mainstreet, followed by a procession of red coated military looking personnel and ladies in elegant attire, dressed from another time, yet fittingly suited to the surroundings.
Attractions
Bounded by the beautiful Oamaru Public Gardens, 10 min walk to restaurants, shops and the Historic Precinct. Visit the Little Blue and Yellow Eyed Penguin colonies, one the smallest and one the rarest of the world’s penguins. The Blue Penguins nest close to town under the cliffs along the Historic Harbour foreshore. The Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony is just beyond the Victorian Heritage Precinct and you are within walking distance of the town centre.
The coast is also home to the famous Moeraki Boulders.
The Moeraki Boulders are a number of huge spherical stones, found strewn along a stretch of Koekohe Beach near Moeraki, a small settlement just south of Oamaru on New Zealand's Otago coast. These boulders are grey-coloured septarian concretions which have been exposed through shoreline erosion from black mudstone coastal cliffs that back the beach. They originally formed in ancient sea floor sediments during the early Paleocene some 60 million years ago.
The boulders weigh several tonnes and are up to three metres in diametre.
Maori legend tells that the boulders are remains of calabashes, kumaras and eel baskets that washed ashore after the legendary canoe, the Araiteuru was wrecked at nearby Shag Point (Matakaea).
The site of Totara Estate is of national importance as the origin of the frozen meat industry in New Zealand.
The first shipment of frozen meat was organized, killed and dressed in the sheds at Totara, then transported to the nearby railway siding, where it was taken by rail to Dunedin in Ice packed carriages. At Port Chalmers it was loaded into hold of the sailing ship Dunedin of the Albion Shipping Line, where it was then frozen before being shipped to Britain. This took place in February 1882. The success of this initial shipment formed the basis of New Zealand's meat industry and overseas markets.
Activities
There is superb fishing in the Waitaki River or the nearby Waitaki Valley Lakes, where Jet boating, boating, sailing and water skiing are all available recreations. Snow Skiing in the winter season is within easy reach of Oamaru.
Lots of walks and trails explore the area’s heritage, architecture, coast, rock formations, Maori culture and literary past are strong features of this reagion.
Address:
Chelmer Street
Oamaru 9400
Phone:
+64 3 434 7666
Fax:
+64 3 434 7662
Reservations:
0800 280 202
Website:
www.oamarutop10.co.nz
Email:
oamarutop10@xtra.co.nz
Hosts:
Shayne & Tracy Kirk
