Oamaru - You can't get any friendlier

Oamaru was intended as a stopover for us. However, the stay turned into one of our most beautiful ones. Our accommodation was the Oamaru Backpackers. A beautiful house with a veranda and swing seats, beautiful rooms, a great living room with a view of the sea, and amazing owners! On our first day, we took a trip to Bushy Beach, where we saw lazy seals and a total of 2 penguins (!). However, there was another penguin bay. The hostel owners told us that around 6:30 in the evening, penguins return from their day's fishing on the beach. So we went there at that time. As soon as we arrived, the penguins arrived on the beach right on time, like clockwork. They came swimming on a wave from the sea. At first, we only saw small black dots on the surface of the water, but suddenly, with the last wave near the beach, 30-40 penguins emerged from the water and started waddling as a group to their nesting places. It was a truly beautiful experience to witness this moment. The next day, we wanted to visit the Moeraki Boulders. However, we found out that we couldn't get there without a car. So we had already given up on the idea when our host Phil came to us and said he had organized someone from the other tourists in his hostel with an international driver's license who was willing to go see the Moeraki Boulders as well. And he also had a car for us. So he took us and Tobi, whom we had met along the way, to his home. In addition to the hostel, Phil and his wife Sally run a Bed & Breakfast at their home and also take care of around 300-400 sheep on their farm, which they manage alone during the off-season. When we asked Phil when he would sleep, as we saw him constantly in the hostel and didn't know when he could do his other work, he just laughed. He showed us his home, his sheep, and explained the methods and tools for shearing sheep and how different the wool of his different sheep breeds is. In addition to the sheep, Phil also has peacocks, goats, pigs, ponies, and alpacas that we were allowed to feed. After that, he took us to one of his minibusses and let us use it for our trip, completely naturally and with the utmost trust, and told us to contact him when we were back and he would pick us up. When we asked what we should give him in return, he waved it off because he was happy to do it for us to enable us to go on the trip. We were amazed by so much generosity as we drove to Moeraki Beach in Phil's minibus, which is known for its perfectly round stones that appear bizarrely set in the landscape. When we were back with Phil and got into a conversation about our trip and talked about our next destination, he wanted to take us to Christchurch with him, as if he hadn't already been hospitable enough, because his son had his first boxing match there that day, so he himself was going there to watch it. However, we couldn't cancel our bus anymore, but we thanked him very much for such kindness. Before we left, we were able to repay him once again by helping Phil with a bed transport for his hostel.

As a summary of this time, we take a family with us, Phil, Sally, and their daughter Katie, who are hard to surpass in terms of hospitality. They were so accommodating and helpful to each of their guests, making you feel like you were in a loving home at the Oamaru Backpackers. We would like to thank the two of them and take this special memory with us.