We stopped over in Oamaru by chance and would recommend it to all making there way between Christchurch and Dunedin. You can easily view 2 penguin colonies, a quaint old town and several good places to eat (the Last Post - recommended).
Best of all is Heritage Court. Booked a 1 bedroom apartment through AA for NZD125 and our host upgraded us to 2 bedrm upon arrival. Quiet, clean, v. spacious unit with big well equipped kitchen and bathroom, comfortable beds, big LCD TV screen, large patio (albeit links up with other units), unlimited free Internet....The best motel and nicest 2 bedrm apartment during our stay in early Dec 2011 and the prices can't be beat.
Hostess gave us brilliant advice on how to make the best use of our short stay. Based on her advice we saw 3 yellow eyed penguins arriving at Bushy beach in the evening, back to have a quick look around town and have dinner, picked up groceries for breakfast at the supermarket (before it closed) then spent about 1.5hrs at the Blue Pengiuin colony (a v. good operation; must do in Oamaru/South Island. Careful cos there were penguins beside the carpark as we were leaving) and back through town to see it lit up at night. There's also a lovely view of the town and bay as you return to town from Bushy beach.
We were so glad we stopped at Oamaru and Heritage Court motel. We'll do it again if we visit South Island.
- Heritage Court Hotel
