Wednesday, March 8: Christchurch to Oamaru

Christchurch to Oamaru - 250 km driving

Erik enjoying the scenery on the way to Oamaru

Today’s the start of the main adventure! Our jetlagged little dude wakes up way too early so I take him down to the main floor lounge in the B&B with his lunchbox full of Lego, and he builds crazy spaceships while I flip through guidebooks and make notes. Once it’s actually time to be awake, we collect Dominic and head to the B&B's café for a beautiful, cooked-to-order breakfast. We then cab it out to the Wilderness Motorhomes headquarters and pick up our home for the next 10 days! The briefing and paperwork go smoothly and quickly, and soon we’re in our RV (later to be named Harvey the RV) and on our way! First stop is a grocery store for supplies - we pick up some meal fixings as well as some local treats such as pineapple lumps, chocolate fish, L&P, and some lovely sauvignon blanc for the grownups. :) We also get some motion sickness stuff for Erik just to make sure his tummy stays happy with all the driving - some ginger candies and the “superhero bracelets” (a.k.a. sea-bands). We have a quick sandwich lunch in the parking lot of the Countdown and then hit the road. I’ve created a playlist of roadtrip music - heavy on the symphonic metal since that seems appropriate for Middle-Earth. But I can’t resist riffing on a joke Top Gear had about Crowded House being the only thing on the radio in New Zealand, so Mr Finn’s dulcet tones serenade us as we head out to the highway.

Our first leg is down the east coast of the South Island - about 3 hours on a relatively straight highway through mainly farmland. Beautiful and flat, and easy driving for Dominic to get used to the size of the vehicle and the fact that we’re driving on the left side and dealing with lots of roundabouts. We always keep an eye on the mountains to our right - we’ll be dealing with those soon enough!

Main hall, Steampunk HQ

We make it to Oamaru - our final destination for today - mid-afternoon. We park at the Harbour Tourist Park, right in the middle of town and easy walking distance to most things. We take a wander through the beautiful Victorian downtown up to the Steampunk HQ - home of all kinds of wild, wonderful, and amazing sculptures and installations. One of the high points is an old-school pipe organ that has been modified to play all kinds of samples like train whistles and industrial noises - Erik and I go nuts on it and even the owner of the place has a good laugh. The Portal is also really cool - a mirrored room with a crazy light show that looks like it goes on forever! And the highlight for Erik is the steam train out front that starts “running” (flashing lights, letting off steam) when you plop a $2 coin in the slot.

Sweet ride!!

Fun with the pipe organ

Erik enjoying the steam train

The Portal

We stop for dinner close by at the pub/restaurant in the Criterion Hotel. The place has been there since 1877 so we figure they must be doing something right! The calamari we have as an appetizer is some of the best we’ve ever had anywhere - so fresh and tender! This is also Erik’s first encounter with the humongous and delectable NZ greenshell mussels - they definitely make an impression.

After dinner, we head out to the yellow-eyed penguin colony viewpoint to see if we can spot any birds. It's up on a cliff with amazing views down to the beach. It’s kind of off-season for penguins so we’re not too disappointed when we don’t see any. We manage to watch a few seals through our binoculars - and of course, the beaches and other scenery are worth the detour.

Back to the RV park and Erik is ready to go play at the “steampunk playground” right next door, with its crazy sculptured play equipment. Erik is a little reluctant to go down a big, steep slide that descends from a sculpture of a jeweled elephant, but he loves climbing the rocketship tower and running in the human hamster wheel. We do some stargazing along the short walk back to Harvey and settle in for a much-needed rest. Erik is especially excited to try out his cool bunk-bed that lowers down from the ceiling; our regular bed at the back of the vehicle is also pretty cozy after all today’s adventures!

Steampunk playground

Human hamster wheel!