Steampunk and heading north

Following the good news regarding my eyes it was time to head north. First stop Oamaru, Steampunk Capital of New Zealand.

I'd been to Oamaru before, and had enjoyed wandering around the Victorian era wharf precinct, full of whacky galleries, but hadn't visited the Steampunk HQ Museum. This time I did, and I can highly recommend the place if you like the quirky and weird.

It's easily possible to spend an entire day wandering around the exhibitions, galleries and shops of the area, which is exactly what we did, including a walk out to the penguin colony to see the sea lions lazing around, and an obligatory seafood chowder at a harbourside cafe. Even the kids' playground is steampunk themed!

Another day I drove down to the Moeraki Boulders to view them at low tide, went for a nice long walk along the beach, then had an awesome lunch at Fleur's Place. This is a well known restaurant at Moeraki vllage, where the fish comes fresh off a local boat, and the weather was stunning! We finished off the day with a drive out to Elephant Rocks to watch the sun setting over the Southern Alps.

After Oamaru I continued north, to Geraldine in Southern Canterbury. It gave me the opportunity to do a few day walks, to Peel Forest and Kakahu Bush.

Then it was on to Christchurch, to catch up with friends, meet new additions, and do a few chores, like get a new passport. My current passport expires in October, and again I am out of the country when it needs renewal.

From Christchurch it was northwards again, this time inland to Hanmer Springs, where I made preparations for another multi-day tramp.

That's next...