NZ Day 2: Christmas Eve with Boulders and Emerson's

Christmas Eve morning we woke up at the Blunden's - Trish and John at the Sefton Homestay B&B - in Timaru. They served a fantastic cooked breakfast, including poached eggs, while spinning the yarn with Trish and John. Ollie, their dog, saw us out as we head back to town. Their B&B was one of the best I have stayed at anywhere - highly recommended. However, for those with allergies like me, it seems to be a prerequisite for a B&B in NZ to have a dog or a cat, so bring your Claritine.

After a brief swing by the markets in Tiramu town centre, we were on the road to Oamaru. There for lunch we had a drive out to the little blue penguin hot spot but had no luck - you usually only see penguins at night, when you can't really see them. Back to town for a walk around the historic buildings. Most were factories of some kind but now most are art galleries or artists workshops or a combination of these. Oamaru is a great town with cafes to eat at as well. Definitely worth a stop. We also found the Criterion Hotel, an old hotel that was closed for many decades before it was reopened. Locals have mugs behind the bar, you can purchase pickled eggs from a jar, and they serve Emerson's, the best beer made in New Zealand.

Next we stopped at a place recomended by our guide book: The Moeraki Boulders. A few rocks on a beach is what we first thought, but then we read about how they are made, how rare they are, and the significance to the Maoris... and then we appreciated them. These boulders were cemented from mudstone into nearly perfect spheres, sort of like pearls. They are formed in and buried in the earth until erosion exposes them. As the beach crawls and claws at the island, more are exposed and eventually worn away, revealing their hollowness first.

Once in Dunedin we wandered around a bit - only half surprised to find it empty, but it was odd that the visitor's centre was open but had the lights off. The city itself is large, but it's also a university town, and the students were all back home. The town centres around an octagon which took us an absurdly long time to find. There were a few restaurants, but we opted for Albar. We stopped in for a drink before dinner but stayed the entire night! This place is gold: Emerson's on tap and cask, great tapas, friendly locals, and Scrabble! Yes we did play Scrabble a bit. But mostly we just enjoyed the atmosphere and planned the rest of the trip.
All photos from day 2 found here.