The Oamaru Mail

Aug 5, 2023 | oamarumail.co.nz | Ashley Smyth

When Sophie Webb climbed into her car about 1400km north of here back in February, with two bags of clothes and her two dogs, she did not know the road would lead to Oamaru. ‘‘When the last load of Covid came down, I thought ‘no, sod it’ . . .I made my way down the country, and I spent a month in the ’Naki, thinking I was going to live there, but one day, when the trip was due to close, I thought, ‘I always wanted to go to Oamaru’.’’She arrived in the town one Sunday in March.

Aug 5, 2023 | oamarumail.co.nz | Ashley Smyth

A dedicated Oamaru photographer settled in for the long haul last week to capture the total lunar eclipse, or blood moon. Pen-y-bryn Lodge owner James Glucksman set himself up with his gear at his Kakanui property, and kept vigil from 8.30pm on Monday to 2am on Tuesday, taking a photograph every three minutes.

Aug 5, 2023 | oamarumail.co.nz | Ashley Smyth

Ashley Smyth, after a stint as acting bureau chief and editor, says goodbye to the Oamaru Mail — again. On May 14, 2020, not only did New Zealand come out of its first Level 4 lockdown, but I started my second stint reporting at the Oamaru Mail, after a 20-ish year hiatus. The first time I worked for the Mail, it was my first reporting job as a 21-year-old. The paper was a daily, and broadsheet (newspaper lingo for big pages), and Oamaru’s only cafe was Cafe Katz.

Aug 5, 2023 | oamarumail.co.nz | Sally Brooker

‘‘Celebrating where you live in your own time — everyone should do that,’’ Helen Stead says. The woman who started the Oamaru Victorian Heritage Celebrations 35 years ago lives by those words. She is still heavily involved in promoting and enjoying the town’s Victorian heyday. During this week’s celebrations, Mrs Stead conducted walking tours to show visitors notable sights and enliven them with stories of their early occupants.

Oct 13, 2022 | oamarumail.co.nz | Ashley Smyth