Oamaru is amazing. It was a major port town back in the 1870s (they are very proud of the fact that at the time, they were bigger than LA!), and so it has a very large and preserved Victorian District. The District- and what we've seen of the town itself- is extremely creative and bookish. It's also very old fashioned, in a way- used books are more prevalent then new, and there is a (real, awesome, amazing) bookbinder and even an amazing model train. We picked up a booklet of classes offered this summer in Sustainable Skills, like making bread and cheese, keeping chickens and cows, knitting, leather crafting, and using renewable energy, etc. Generally this follows the “can-do” attitude of all New Zealanders, but it seems particularly predominant here.
I've counted 5 used bookstores so far, which is huge for a town of this size. Many other stores will sell books too. There are really interesting galleries and local artists everywhere. There are cafes every second shop. It's actual heaven and if our plans for Wanaka don't work out, I'll definitely want to come back here to work for the summer!
The other thing Oamaru is known for is Little Blue Penguins. They head out to sea in the morning, and come on shore at night to go back to the their colony,
Noemie, Martin, Kara and I have been staying at an adorable backpackers called the Empire Hotel Backpackers. They're so friendly here, and while you can pay lots of money to see the Little Blue Penguin colony, the staff at the hostel told us exactly where you can go to see them for free.
Which we did on our first night!