Steampunk'd

I'm a steampunk pixie on a cabaret stage
I live in Bohemia with bohemian friends
We're all kind of nuts but that's ok
We've got science and magic in our blood and brains
- Frenchy and the Punk, Steampunk Pixie

Steampunk HQ

Oamaru bills itself as the "Steampunk capital of the world", and it's easy to see why. Steampunk is a genre of science fiction / science fantasy that blends Victorian aesthetic with Industrial Revolution mechanics. The best (really bad) movie for a visual would be 1999's Wild Wild West, the more contemporary League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, or hop in your way-back machine and watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. In Oamaru, they have built an entire culture around the promotion and celebration of steampunk. You can see the influence in local shops / art galleries, and the city park.

We had a chance to sit down with our weekend landlord. She gave us hints on where and when to find the penguins and we got to talk a little about the city. She grew up here and described going for tramps in the hills and getting annoyed with the penguins. These birds that have become such a big deal to the local economy used to be considered pests. She called them "water rats".

Walking around, Kari and I have been amazed by the old buildings and architecture, but apparently it wasn't by any design. The buildings sat empty and derelict for years and still stand today only because the city didn't have enough money to tear them down. As artists and other businesses have moved in, there is a mini-restoration going on. It's interesting to see this blend of old and new, even to the point of some traditional business such as wool merchants newly occupying what was once a bustling centre for commerce.

 

      

Victorian Precinct

We started our day exploring the Victorian Precinct ... an area of waterfront warehouse spaces now occupied by wool markets, artists studios/galleries/shops, theatre companies, and The New Zealand Whiskey Collection. Seagrams ran a distillery in Dunedin that was the world's southern-most commercial distillery. As happens to many businesses, it was sold, moved overseas (to Fiji for rum distilling), and eventually closed its doors. The leftover whiskey was shoved into storage in an old airplane hangar and there it remained in benign neglect. If you know much about whiskey, then you understand how magical this is. The barrels were being sold off at "ridiculously low prices" to anyone who wanted them. The New Zealand Whiskey Collection was formed and purchased the remaining 443 barrels (80K Litres). The whiskey was transferred from American Bourbon casks into French oak NZ wine casks and transported to Oamaru to absorb the sea air. Eight years later, they started bottling the whiskey and it was put on the market. At the current rate of local sales and limited export, they have enough left to last another 3-5 years, and then it's gone. Of course, our first stop of the day was a whiskey tasting. As usual, Little H made friends with the shop dog.

 

The New Zealand Whiskey Collection

Around every corner, and down every alleyway, there was something else new/old and cool. Doors opened to reveal cavernous spaces filled with ongoing businesses and artists' collections. Most of the artists were in-house and working while we poked around.

      

 

Victorian Precinct shops and studios

Once again, we headed out on the road to explore the area. We climbed on, around, and over Elephant Rocks, site of Aslan's Camp from the Chronicles of Narnia films; then we went looking for Maori rock drawings.

 

 

Sounding her barbaric yawp!

 

 

Maori rock drawings. Date and meaning unknown, but some depict European-style ships

We finished the day by chasing the setting sun and watching for penguins as they came in to nest for the evening. Yellow Eyed Penguins arrive while there is still plenty of light, but Blue Penguins arrive with twilight.

 

Yellow Eyed Penguins, Bushy Beach

 

 

Blue Penguins, town harbour

One of the things I really wanted to do was visit Steampunk HQ, but we ran out of time. Before leaving Oamaru this morning, we delayed our departure to spend an hour digging through the imaginations of steampunk artists and creators.

 

 

 

      

 

 

 

 

      

Tu Meke ...