The Oamaru

From Dunedin, I decided to take a quick trip north to Oamaru, dubbed as New Zealand's only Victorian town. Built up by the gold rush in the 1800s, the town's old Victorian city center is currently being reinvigorated.

As Oamaru is homebase for New Zealand's steampunk movement (a genre about which I'd never heard before this trip), visitors will often see old steel and other steam engine equipment dotting the town's landscape. Below, a new steampunk museum opened in an abandoned Victorian building:

A view of the town from the pier.

The most unique swingset I've ever used. Seems like part of the whole steampunk thing.

After walking around town, I headed over to Whitestone Cheese headquarters, where I sampled some of the local cheese offerings and particularly enjoyed a mild blue cheese called Moeraki Bay. Yum!
After my visit to Oamaru, it was time to head back to Dunedin to catch the next day's flight to Auckland.