Thursday 17th September: Sunny and mild. We set off to Oamaru on an outing with Playcentre to the Blue Penguin colony. As we got to the end of the main road through Oamaru we noticed the railway lights flashing. No barriers or bells, just flashing lights. We were at the front of the queue when the train came through.
This time of the year the penguins are nesting so there are a couple of hundred penguins hiding inside wooden boxes with their eggs or chicks.
We could see some in their nests, and they could see and hear us there too. From there we drove a short distance to a small sandy beach to dig and hunt for sea creatures. Peter found several crabs and claws, and also this shell which looks like it has a face on it.
The waterfront here is the old part of Oamaru, in the days when it was a bustling port early in the history of NZ's settlers. In particular it exported wool and grain.
We headed into Oamaru then for the boys to have their swimming lesson. By the time we got to the Public Gardens the rest of the Playcentre group were leaving, already having had their lunch. We sat and ate our picnic and then the boys played in the playground until 2pm. We bought milk and headed back to Waimate.
The boys practiced playing their piano pieces and did their theory ready for tomorrow's lessons. I cooked tea and Steve got in from work before the boys went to bed. We had some charming books for bedtime. Recently we've been reading Roald Dahl's 'Witches' but it was getting rather scary as a bedtime story so we'll finish it off as a daytime read instead.
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