After the bitter disappointment of having our pepper grinder stolen, we decided to forgo holiday parks for a while, and instead head off to see what the free camps north of Dunedin had to offer.
First was Katiki beach; a small shaded free camping spot over looking a gorgeous sweeping beach, the gently lapping waves provided our background music and a disgustingly pungent long drop toilet the main thing we could smell. We stayed here for a night before realising the beauty didn’t quite balance out the stink.
Next was Trotters gorge scenic reserve, a very basic DOC site slightly inland which we had entirely to ourselves. From here we went on a gruelling hour and a half hike, climbing up to the top of the gorge, where we were faced with a slightly underwhelming view of the tops of trees. So it wasn't the most exciting hike and it certainly isn't one I'd recommend, but after a sedentary few days it was nice to get some exercise in at least.
Not having yet found somewhere to properly decamp for a few days, on we headed, this time to All day bay; a free-camping spot right on the side of a small country road a minutes walk from a lovely deserted beach. It was fine and the toilets didn't seem to smells to bad, but it didn't really have anything else going for it either. Completely bored of hopping from place to place, not loving anywhere we ended up, we headed north to Oamaru to see if some civilisation could get us out of this funk.
Oamaru, once a slowly decaying farming town known for its little blue penguins and large concentration of Victorian limestone architecture is now the Steampunk capital of the world. Think victorian steam technology taken far past it’s logical conclusion, think goggles and bustles and pipes and gears, think dirigibles with ray-guns, and you might start to see what it’s all about. To really cement the towns prominence in the grimy world of steampunk, it not only has many imaginative sculptures donated by Weta Studios (special effects of LOTR), shops selling victorian attire and a whole warehouse filled with penny farthings, it has the Steampunk HQ.
Founded in 2011, Steampunk HQ is an interactive art collaboration and gallery situated in a 1830’s grain store. With a drill fronted train burrowing its way out of the earth in front of the imposing stone building and dirigible moored to the side, Steampunk HQ is an unmissable part of the towns victorian precinct. Once we’d finished admiring the outside of the building we paid our $15 each and headed into the gloom inside. It took us about an hour and half to work our way round, flipping switches and pressing pedals. I won’t describe in detail all the different wild and wonderful exhibits there, it was far too packed full for that, but I will say that we enjoyed pressing buttons and twisting knobs waiting to see if the results would delight or disappoint.
Strangely enough, the exhibit that we enjoyed the most wasn't really steampunk based at all. It was a dark mirrored room full of hanging lights that cycled through different colours, reflecting infinitely in every direction. It was mesmerising.
Our brief foray into the world of steampunk over, we headed down the wharf to enjoy watching the suns rays dance over the water while we once again waited for penguins. Somehow we
missed the small tricksy animals leaving the water but we knew they were there this time, we could hear them.
I’ve thought long and hard about how to describe the noise of a little blue penguin; my first thought was of aliens, perhaps the tripods from war of the worlds but the penguins don’t resonate as deeply. Next I thought maybe a raptor from jurassic park could do, but their barks weren’t quite right either. Finally I thought of gremlins, but the trilling growl that comes from the tiny body of penguin sounds far more sinister. So I give up, maybe a combination of those sounds would suffice or maybe you could listen yourself to find out what it’s like.
We enjoyed our trip into Oamaru, wandering around the beautifully persevered victorian town, seeing shags line the pier at dusk and eating decadent treats from the farmers market - but there was a severe lack of free camping and the one expensive campground was slightly lacking in facilities so after one night it was time to move on.
Deciding on a complete change in scenery we left the coast behind and made our way inland towards New Zealands iconic Mount Cook. We was only planning on stopping at the free campsite at Ahuriri Bridge for one night, but once we settled in, we ended up staying for three. There wasn’t much to do there, a small stream nearby to walk along and the mountains surrounding the flat plane to gawk at, but it felt welcoming and peaceful.
We didn’t just sit around and do nothing, now we had the time and a lot of space it was time for a spring clean - pulling all of our stuff out of the van and getting rid of all the dust that the van seemed to attract. We finally got round to fixing the paint on the front of the van and doing a spot of rust prevention. If felt good to be useful, not matter how much I love travelling and exploring new places, sometimes a feeling of restlessness can't be fixed by moving somewhere new but by doing something mundane instead.
Trip date : April 2023
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