Steampunk HQ & Victorian Fete in Oamaru – Day 180

So today I’m having a Victorian overload.

It’s the Victorian Weekend today here in Oamaru but we’re going to be seeing a bit more of a permanent fixture of the Victorian Era in Oamaru and that’s the Steampunk HQ which is a massive steampunk exhibition which extends both indoors and outdoors. And because this is a glorious day in Oamaru we’re starting with the outdoor exhibition. In there there is heaps of gigantic sculptures like a massive bus, a massive train and a lot of stuff that we can play with. It’s not like your average museum where you can’t touch anything. You’re encouraged to jump on it and play with everything you can see.

But let’s just backtrack a bit cos what the hell is steampunk? Well steampunk is a genre of sci-fi that uses steam-powered machinery rather than the advanced technology. Steampunk is present all over popular culture from movies like Mad Max to video games like Bioshock and this genre has really inspired artists from all over the world to make some pretty awesome creations.

And we’re about to see another really awesome one right here which is The Portal. This is the closest to time travelling that we have ever been is we enter this room with an infinity, well, the look of an infinite amount of space. In this room there’s dramatic music going on and we’re surrounded by all these lights which are shaped like skulls and they make different colours and there’s mirrors all around us as well making us feel like we’re in a space that never ends.

Outside of The Portal we see all these sculptures of recycled industrial material and there’s a room with a bit of a scary surprise inside.

There’s a lot of gorilla that have been made out of scrap metal there’s all these flashing lights this place really gets your imagination going.

And the building itself has an awesome history as well it was built in 1883 when Oamaru was a massive seaport. In fact, back in the days in 1883 it was bigger than Los Angeles. Going back to the exhibition itself there is really a lot of crazy sculptures and some crazy setup as well like a massive piano organ that actually doesn’t play piano it plays this.

Believe it or not that’s not the first time I’m DJing this year and if you check out the card above you will be able to go straight to that video. But nonetheless I am not going to be the next Mozart, Laura and I are still browsing a little bit around the exhibition with heaps more to see and Laura, which is one of the main writers of NZPocketGuide.com, find herself the perfect accessory for travelling.

But we have lots more to do today so this wraps up our visit to the Steampunk Museum and we are now making our way outside to the beautiful streets of Oamaru where the Victorian Fete is in full swing.

The Victorian Fete is held in Oamaru every single November and it’s sort of a celebration of the heritage Victorian buildings that are still standing here in the town. And it’s held right here in the Victorian Precinct where we get to sort of explore the Victorian buildings and be surrounded this history.

It feels like we’ve travelled back in time as we feel like we’re the only ones dressed in modern day clothing and the rest of all the locals are dressed up in Victorian visits apart from a bunch of Scottish bagpipe which are straight out of the boat.

There’s heaps of events going on throughout the whole day from food and craft stalls, vintage machinery demonstrations, puppet shows, stilt walkers, penny farthing lessons and competitions, sawing competitions there’s live music and so much more.

Today truly was the most Oamaru day possible. Join us tomorrow where we’re gonna be going to a cheese factory and also we’re gonna try our hand at sheep shearing. Good luck with that.

Today I’m having a Victorian orgasm. How do you say like just all about something. Overload? Yeah. Today I’m having a Victorian Overload.