Oamaru

New Zealand
Oamaru, New Zealand
Photo: Jamie Wang CC BY-SA 2.0 source

Victorian buildings cut from fine white local limestone give Oamaru a distinctive streetscape, and the town also sits beside penguin colonies on the South Island's Pacific coast. It serves as the eastern gateway to the Waitaki Valley, home to New Zealand's first UNESCO Global Geopark — the Waitaki Whitestone Geopark — where hydroelectric dams have created lakes used for water sports. A café and restaurant scene larger than most towns its size rounds out the offer.

  • Population13,000
  • Nearest water0.4 km
  • Nearest mountain7.0 km