Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Oamaru
POP 12,900
Nothing moves very fast in Oamaru. Tourists saunter, locals linger and penguins waddle.
Even oft-celebrated heritage modes of transport - penny farthings and steam trains - re-
flect an unhurried pace. Most travellers come here for the penguins, but hang around and
you'll sense the wellspring of eccentricity bubbling under the surface. Put simply, this is
New Zealand's coolest town.
Down by the water, a neighbourhood of once-neglected Victorian buildings now
swarms with oddballs, antiquarians and bohemians of all stripes, who run offbeat galler-
ies, fascinating shops, hip venues and even an 'urban winery'. Most visible are the
Steampunks, their aesthetic boldly celebrating the past and the future with an ethos of
'tomorrow as it used to be'. What Oamaru used to be was rich and ambitious. In its
1880s heyday, Oamaru was about the same size as Los Angeles was at the time. Refri-
gerated meat-shipping had its origins nearby and the town became wealthy enough to
build the imposing buildings that grace Thames St today. However, the town overreached
itself and spent the end of the 19th century teetering on the verge of bankruptcy.
Economic decline in the 20th century meant that there wasn't the impetus to swing the
wrecking ball with the same reckless abandon that wiped out much of the built heritage
of NZ's main centres. It's only in recent decades that canny creative types have cottoned
on to the uniqueness of Oamaru's surviving Victorian streetscapes and have started to un-
lock this otherwise unremarkable town's potential for extreme kookiness.
