• the longest freight train in Oamaru history halted Thomas Forrester’s opening address for several minutes
• a good hearted Waitaki Guardian locked our Props Box on the railway platform & Mrs Atkinson was left to greet the Governor without her best hat and flag
• a New Year Reveller took our pre-laid tambourine as a party prop and left our Fanny Worsdall to denounce the demon drink without musical backing!
• a campervan stopped William Bee (ready & waiting to tell his story) for directions to the nearest Fish & Chip shop
• the Fire Dept performed a training drill & our tour became more of a paddle down Harbour St
• the Earl’s ‘hearse’ went  missing from Stables (lent for a wedding)
• Governor Grey got to deliver his ‘Oamaru speech’ from a real train

Hilary is set to ‘alight’ the streets of the old quarter with ‘arresting’ performances as Fanny Worsdall of the esteemed Living History Players every Friday through Monday night until season end.

So there you are… another Secret is out!

“World class performance amongst a stunning back-drop” Local

“Wonderful tour through the history of Oamaru. Very funny and a good idea for visitors. Thank you” Germany

“A fine experience. Impressive!” Holland

“Professional, clever & entertaining” UK

“Excellent acting. Thank you for a memorable evening” India

“Great way of bringing streets to life” Wellington

“Wicked fun. Great actors” Local

“Thank you. Really brought history to life” UK

“What a wee sparkling drama it was!” Auckland

“What a great way to spend our only evening in Oamaru” Wellington

 Tours run nightly 7pm, Oamaru iSite. Bookings essential 0800 548344

 http://www.odt.co.nz/the-regions/north-otago/88676/players-bringing-history-life

Meet Cranky Kelly, the Scottish Laird and the woman who dared to ask for shoes in this walking tour with a difference… Just some of the characters you’ll meet in this unique experience that weaves its way ‘back in time’ through the stories of early Oamaru. Let the Living History Players take you ‘behind the scenes’, as historic characters ‘come alive’ to reveal the old town’s secrets and treasures. Your 50 minute journey offers a storytelling experience where real people (professional actor/guides) tell real stories in real locations.

Tour Information

Start time: by prior arrangement

Tour Starts: Oamaru iSite, 1 Thames St, Oamaru

Meal Option: A hearty meal is available at a restaurant close to the tour start point.

Bookings Essential: 0800 LIVE HISTORY (0800 548344)

Further information:

• Group and ‘late night’ evening tours available on request.
• Warm clothing and sensible footwear recommended. Restricted mobility access

They’re inviting visitors to ‘Step Inside Victorian Oamaru’ in a walking tour that takes them ‘behind the scenes’ as historic characters ‘come alive’ to reveal the old town’s secrets and treasures.

Acclaimed as the finest intact Victorian streetscape in the southern hemisphere, Oamaru’s whitestone buildings moved one 19^th century observer to describe her ‘as the modern Athens of the South’. Today the old town, now frozen in time, is brought alive again.

“Our aim is real people, telling real stories in real locations and in Oamaru’s colonial buildings we have no finer stage” says Living History’s Scott Elliffe.

As in past seasons the Living History Players comprise mainly young aspiring professional actors from New Zealand’s top drama schools. This fusion of the dramatic arts into tourism is pushing new and very exciting boundaries.

In the late 19th century Oamaru was a bustling young town with a growing population that rivalled Los Angeles! With an economy fuelled by grain, wool and refrigerated meat exports, the future looked rosy.

Oamaru’s merchants set out to build a city that reflected this optimism and confidence. The logical places to begin were the streets closest to the small deep-water harbour. Here, young New Zealand’s mercantile dreams were born. Majestic buildings crafted from the rich local deposits of white limestone sprang up. Grain stores, wool stores, banks, hotels and commercial and civic offices gave Oamaru its distinctive architecture and scale.

This remarkable authenticity is one we are still fortunate enough to enjoy today. Left behind by the new economies of the 20th century, Oamaru’s legacy, its historic area, is now one of its most cherished assets.

As you wander through looking at the grand facades, imagine for a moment the faces and stories behind these buildings. Living History’s portrayal of Secrets of the Old Town offers us just such a view in helping to ‘bring alive’ our rich heritage.

Timeline to 1900

1852 C.E.Suisted first North Otago runholder. Government surveyor W.D.Mantell explores North Otago and ‘digs’ at Awamoa River Mouth, the first archaeological excavation in NZ

1853 North Otago becomes part of Otago for administrative purposes. Hugh Robison occupies Oamaru Run.

1858 Traill and France establishes first store. Oamaru Landing Service established operating surf boats for arrivals & departures at Friendly Bay

1859 First sections in Oamaru sold. Regular steamer service from Dunedin commenced

1860 Thames Street bridge begun. Until 1932 and the building of Sydney Harbour Bridge the widest span bridge in the Southern Hemisphere

1861 Oamaru a Port of Entry, ships could come direct from overseas

1862 Coach service from Dunedin established. Oamaru Town Board established

1863 First courthouse established. A & P association established, the longest running A & P society in NZ

1864 Post office, (now The Last Post Restaurant) opened. Henry France postmaster

1865 Telegraphic communication with Dunedin and Chch commenced

1866 Oamaru a Municipality. Oamaru Borough Council formed

1867 First visit by Governor Grey in which he pronounced the beer brewed by Oamaru Brewery as the best he’d tasted in Otago

1868 The Great Storm of 1868 – 2 ships wrecked in the harbour with the loss of 4 lives and original Totara Estate buildings swept away with the loss of 9 lives. Public memorial commissioned

1869 Livingstone the ‘hot spot’ of North Otago as Maerewhenua goldfield proclaimed. Papakaio & Awamoko coalfield opened. We had it all, gold, coal, slate, stone, good soil & climate!

1872 First block of breakwater laid an engineering masterpiece of its day (completed 1884)

1874 Immigration barracks built. Barracks where men and women were separated, like on the voyage out, by families

1875 Thames street fire destroyed Queens Hotel and two whole blocks. New buildings erected in stone with grand facades reflecting the optimism of the time

1876 Benevolent Society founded. Gas supplies on. Waitaki Bridge opened

1877 Rail connected to Christchurch completed

1878 Rail connection to Dunedin completed. Premier Sir George Grey’s second visit in which he proclaimed Oamaru as “a fair maiden that sits on the seashore with a horn of plenty in her hand”

1881 Oamaru seventh largest population centre in NZ, an emerging centre of mercantile dreams. Buildings reflect this ambition, largely built in a heady 10 year period mid 70’s to 80’s. Nowhere is the boundless confidence of colonial NZ better expressed than in the streets of Oamaru!

1882 First shipment of refrigerated meat sent to Mother England. Prepared at Totara Estate south of Oamaru

1883 Salvation Army declares war on the ‘demon drink’ in Oamaru

1884 First direct shipment of mutton from Oamaru

late 1880’s The recession bites. Oamaru is the most heavily mortgaged town in New Zealand. Dreams of an international commercial centre have subsided as rail bypasses the town to safer & more natural harbours

1891 Lands for Settlement Act led to break-up of large Estates allowing individuals to purchase land and farm successfully on a small scale

1894 Harbour Board in receivership. North Otago Prohibition Assn forces 4 town hotels to lose their liquor license (District wide Prohibition (no liquor sale ban) carried in Oamaru in 1905. Legal liquor sales didn’t return until 1962)