Ōamaru Tales

Your essential local’s guide to discovering NZ’s ‘coolest town’. Learn more about Ōamaru’s storied past, cultural heritage, and the many things to see and do here.

Ōamaru Tales – tour through time

Haere mai, and kia ora. We wish you a warm welcome to our historic town of Ōamaru, located in the district of Waitaki, on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand.

Why Visit Ōamaru: - As you may already know, Ōamaru has the best collection of commercial Victorian streetscapes in New Zealand. Its creamy limestone facades are currently advocated by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga to become the nation’s second location to achieve 'National Heritage Landmark' status.

The Ōamaru Tales app: - This is your key to discovering more of what Ōamaru has to offer. You’ll enjoy a self-guided walking tour of this town’s Heritage Precinct and the CBD areas, and hear historic tales of one-upmanship, of gruesome discoveries, drunkenness, bordellos, cure-all remedies, and the curiosity of two left feet carved in Italian marble!

About the Walk: - Start at any point on the 2km tour, and head off in either direction. The trail takes you on a 70 to 90-minute loop back to your starting point, and you can pop in and out of the tour at any time.

About the In-App Experience: - With your device’s GPS activated, the tour’s geo-tagged points of interest pop up a notification when you are near, clicking on this opens the related information, videos, historic images, and ‘then and now’ comparisons. Here too, you’ll find the audio link that will allow you to continue your leisurely walk while listening to the commentary. Please don’t forget to take your earphones!

It Works Offline: - Updates can be downloaded to your phone before you leave ‘home’ and the app will operate while you are offline. Many of the tour’s points of interest display their own unique QR code to take you to that point in the tour app.

Wishing you safe and enjoyable travels, and we look forward to seeing you back!

Ngā mihi nui. The Ōamaru Tales team.