Elephant Rocks and Oamaru / NZ

Going on from Mt. Cook you either have the possibility to head to the West Coast or like I did back to the East.

Driving along the 80, in Omarama turning to the West on the 83 passing Lake Banmore and Lake Aviemore.
After you have passed Kurow you can turn off onto Ngapara Road and make a stop at the Elephant Rocks.

The Elephant Rocks are located on a farmers field and you can walk around. They look out of place and are worth a stop.

Elephant Rocks

Elephant Rocks

Not much farther and you are already in Oamaru. You defintely have to make a stop in the city center, having lunch around the corner of the iSite, having a coffee opposite the city hall, walking the little streets for a stroll.

Oamaru city - Church

Oamaru - City hall

Streets of Oamaru

 At around 7 pm you should head south to either Bushy Beach or Katiki Beach to have a look for the yellow-eyed penguins (no entrance).

Bushy Beach, you may not go down in the evening

Oamaru map with pengiun sites

Yellow-eyed penguin on the trail

You need good eyes or a good camera, but you can see them coming out of the ocean for the night.
I had been lucky and one even walked in front of us on the trail :-)

Seals at the beach

Yellow-eyed penguins at the beach

Later you should go to the Blue Penguin Colony back in town.

Sitting on the "cheap" seats looking to the expensive once ;-)

You have the option either to pay quite an amount and you can sit in a kind of arena which is located around the main spot where those little blue penguins get out of the water. 
You can even pay more if you wanna sit exactly where the entrance in a fence is made or you pay less (28 NZD) to sit a few meters away (I sat there and it's perfectly fine). A seal jumping over the fence and shoo us away for its' nights sleep was another highlight ;-)
Or you are not paying anything and you just wait outside of the "Colony building". When I left still some penguins were just crossing the road. 

Do NOT pay any entrance during the day. During the day the penguins are in the ocean and they rest and sleep lying in the water, there is hardly any penguin coming ashore and it really would be a waste of your money. 
At least the money is for saving and protecting the penguins. 

Tip: Check out the website bookme. I am not sure if you get the entrance cheaper via this website, but you can find many attractions for less money

To let you know when you wait outside, you shouldn't take pictures with flash as they can get blind. At least it's what they told us and they are not moving anymore, which is dangerous in case of trafic. 

I have stayed a bit outside of Oamaru on a Campsite called Kakanui Camp Ground. 
Heading south you pass a little village, where you can buy fantastic veggies and jam at the street (at daytime). You see little stores / tables etc. regularly at the road where you can buy fresh food from the farms. A chance you shouldn't miss.    

The Camp ground itself had been very quiet, mine was one of two vans. Laundry, Dryer and shower.