Oamaru is the odd, rewarding stop between Dunedin and Timaru: a North Otago harbour town where white limestone warehouses, little blue penguins, and handmade steampunk contraptions all share the same waterfront.
The town's Victorian precinct survived partly because Oamaru declined after its boom years, leaving a handsome streetscape of banks, grain stores, warehouses, and harbour buildings in Oamaru stone. Today those blocks hold galleries, cafes, workshops, and Steampunk HQ, which has given the town a strange second identity.
The other reason to stay late is wildlife. At dusk, little blue penguins return from the sea at the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony, while Bushy Beach gives a chance of seeing rare yellow-eyed penguins from a respectful distance. Oamaru is also a natural base for the Waitaki Whitestone UNESCO Global Geopark, but the town itself has enough character for a day.