Oamaru Breakwater, silent after the crashing of the last wave.

Before the storm the boats lay still in Oamaru Harbour.

A digitally painted piece showing the dramatic  clouds minutes before sunset in this beautiful location.

European settlement at Oamaru began in 1853 when Hugh Robison built a musterer’s hut on the foreshore. North Otago was good for sheep-runs, and in the 1860s the town grew rich servicing pastoralists and gold miners.

Oamaru, though, was no port. Cape Wanbrow, a stubby little headland, gave some shelter from southerly winds but none from easterlies. In the absence of breakwaters and wharves, ships anchored in the open sea, loading and discharging cargo into surf boats. It was slow, sweaty work.

It was also dangerous. Cables guided the surf boats through the breakers in a hair-raising surge of foam. Once on the beach, the boat crews sledged them up to a cargo shed. Passengers received similar treatment. As the boats approached the beach, boatmen waded out, took the passengers on their backs and carried them ashore.

This was possible only in fine, calm weather. Ships’ captains kept a weather eye on the horizon. At the first sign of danger or a shift in the wind, work stopped and they fled out to sea.

Oamaru’s exposed beach made it one of New Zealand’s most dangerous anchorages. More than 20 ships were wrecked there between 1860 and 1875, and many more were damaged and recovered. In the worst example, on the night of 3–4 February 1868, a huge storm wrecked a new jetty foolishly built out into the bay from an unprotected site, as well as the ships Star of Tasmania, Water Nymph and Otago. Four people drowned.  

'Oamaru Harbour', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/oamaru-harbour, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 20-Dec-2012

March is the month for rainbows in Oamaru.

Here we see a beautiful example rising above Oamaru Harbour, reflected light from the clouds lighting the green waters below.

Clouds from a passing storm slowly move to the south

A Partial Eclipse of the sun, covered by cloud. A fishing boat leaves Oamaru Harbour for the days catch. 22nd September 2025.

Oamaru Breakwater and the September 2025 Eclipse sunrise

Oamaru Breakwater and the September 2025 Eclipse sunrise

Oamaru Breakwater and Holmes Wharf, slow exposure, 25th May 2009.

A curious place to be at night with all the penguins, rabbits and seabirds hustling around you, getting ready to settle down.

Full Moon rising, slow exposure of the waves and Breakwater. 9th September 2014.

A Digital artwork showing the beautiful Oamaru Harbour at sunset, the boats still lit by the setting sun.

Shortly before sunset, the sun dips below the nor-wester arch to light up the motionless boats in Oamaru Harbour.

A beautiful rainbow stretching up from behind the Oamaru Breakwater

March is usually the month of rainbows in Oamaru, cold fronts from the south bring much needed rain.

The smell of Petrichor is abundant.

The breakwater doing it's job. How long till the seas rise and the protection is gone?

The Supermoon of 24th June 2013 rising above the Oamaru Breakwater.

Boats in Oamaru Harbour point South West, into the coming storm.

At  the end of Oamaru breakwater, two lights vie for the attention of lost ships.

Slow exposure taken 14th of March 2010 with an Olympus Pen camera.

A digital sketch of the Oamaru Breakwater

Silent, it was so silent when I took these photos. The fog covered everything, dampened noise and hair. Not even the birds made a sound.

A break in heavy fog lights up the sky, early morning by Sumpter Wharf, Oamaru Harbour.

A break in heavy fog lights up a wave from a distant sunrise at the Oamaru Breakwater, Oamaru Harbour.

Captured at 1/1600th of a second the water appears to shatter like glass against the stone.

Slow exposure of the northern side of Holmes Wharf with the Breakwater in the distance. 22nd May 2012.