Blue penguin colony manager Jason Gaskill, who started work last month, grew up in the United States.
He moved to New Zealand, with his wife - a New Zealander - nearly 10 years ago, to further his education.
While his goal was to obtain a doctorate in philosophy from Victoria University, he discovered it was difficult juggling work with being a student and having a young family.
Mr Gaskill (35) worked in radio, selling advertising in Wellington, before moving to Milton three and a-half years ago and working for marketing agency The Flying Lizard in Dunedin.
One of the projects he was involved in was the Visit Oamaru branding and he also did work for the penguin colony.
When he tired of being involved in branding and advertising, he decided it was time for a change. "I wanted something else and this was there," he said.
His family was already familiar with Oamaru, having spent a lot of time in the town. His four children, aged from 4 to 9, were excited when he told them he would be managing the penguin colony.
Mr Gaskill said the steepest learning curve was getting to grips with how things ran at the colony. Asked what he wanted to achieve, he said he wanted to help people become more aware of the colony's ecological background. The colony was there to safeguard the breeding of the penguins.
He has only returned to the US once since moving to New Zealand and admitted feeling "pretty foreign" being back there.
He did miss good Mexican food, which he said was hard to find in New Zealand, although fish and chips in the US were a delicacy, costing $20.
