Visiting Oamaru in November is like traveling back in time
Oamaru was the first to receive the news the death of captain scott and his companions. The feat of newfoundland expedition , whose members died on a defeated return trip after verifying that they had not been the first to reach the South Pole, not only sang it Meccano in the 80's ; was also broadcast to the world, 75 years before and via telegraph, from this city located in the southeast of New Zealand, in which the penguins roam freely and where a mural commemorating the British officer presides over a playground sprinkled with attractions of steampunk aesthetics.
'Steampunk' from the cradle
The steampunk style, halfway between the era of the industrial revolution, futurism and the novels of Jules Verne, it plays with how a person from the 19th century would invent the future.
There is a lot of copper leather, gears in every way possible, recycled scrap and ghostly objects that in Oamaru they even have their own museum.
Enter the Steampunk HQ It's like transporting us to a stage of Mad Max ; in the same hall, a picturesque steam machine seems ready to take flight and once inside, the lights and music make it clear that the key is to interact with the exposure. And we will do it with all kinds of inventions, from a metagalactic organ to The portal , a room full of mirrors and lights that will make us believe that the journey to another dimension.
Much of the exhibition can be seen outdoor. In addition, next to the museum, there is a playground in which this aesthetic merges perfectly with the attractions for children.
Here, the swings are located in a huge model of a high Wheel Bike, the sculpture of an elephant with harnesses is a kind of children's gazebo, the slide is in a pyramid decorated with huge nuts, the zip line It is born from a crane attached to a steam engine and the board of the basket is a circular gear. All with an extra dose of iron and copper.
Steampunk HQ, an atypical museum
And on the edge of this peculiar park, without being out of tune in the least thanks to its rectangular structure made up of copper plates , chains and a huge metal buoy, is found Gallery , an establishment facing the sea that would be worth it just for its spectacular views, but that, in addition, serves a excellent coffee and the ones that may be the best handmade cakes from the country.
**THE BEST PRESERVED VICTORIAN ENCLOSURE IN NEW ZEALAND**
The steampunk style has a custom stage in the restored constructions of the so-called victorian enclosure located on the streets Harbor and Tyne , very close to the port.
These elegant buildings built with immaculate limestone in the area, once offices or huge agricultural warehouses, have been recovered and converted into **bookshops specializing in the conquest of the South Pole** -curiously, more focused on the triumphant Amundsen than in Scott--quirky thrift stores, design cafes, galleries and unclassifiable shops where anything imaginable is sold.
In one of those historic buildings is the Criterion Hotel build in 1877 and that, in addition to accommodation, has been a warehouse and candy shop. Today, on the upper floor, it offers restored rooms that still retain the victorian essence while, on its ground floor, it serves craft beers and an exquisite menu, also in accordance with the historical place in which it is located.
Although if what we are looking for is an authentic nineteenth-century immersion, nothing like visiting the city in november , when the celebration Network Waitaki Victorian Fete . It is a party where Oamaru watches Almost two centuries are delayed and the city returns to the time of Dickens, Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde.
The habitants they dress up in their best clothes, there tea duels -consisting of dipping a cookie for seven seconds and seeing which one takes longer to crumble - and the downtown streets are filled with food stalls, craft , contests, demonstrations and concerts.
Victorian Madness in Oamaru
WATCH OUT! HERE LIVE THE SMALLEST PENGUINS IN THE WORLD
All this artistic and historical hubbub has been having some exceptional spectators, especially when the night falls. And it is that if Oamaru was known before the restoration of its Victorian buildings and its intelligent way of embracing the steampunk aesthetic, it was for its blue penguin colony the smallest of their kind.
In Oamaru you can find penguins walking around the harbor at dusk
These nest in the edge of the harbor and, at sunset, it is easy to see them by the dozens return from the sea to feed the chicks and take shelter among the rocks. With just a little patience and maybe an extra dose of coffee, it's not uncommon watch them at dawn scampering with its particular cadence through the streets near the port. Not in vain, the signs of "Penguins crossing" (Pingüinos crossing, in Spanish) are not only a tourist attraction.
In Oamaru it is as easy to come across a penguin at midnight as it is to an elegant victorian man at noon.
Slowly, penguins in sight!