museum

Another great bastion of Steampunk in the southern hemisphere can be found in New Zealand. This rugged country is probably best known as the setting for Peter Jackson’s epic dramatizations of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth tales. So, is it any wonder that New Zealanders would embrace the Steampunk genre with such vigor?

The epicenter of Steampunk in New Zealand seems to be located in the coastal town of Oamaru, which lies some 249km from Christchurch on the Southern Island. There one will find the Steampunk HQ Museum which opened in November of 2011. The museum’s site describes it as being. “an ideal setting for Steampunk art and activities, given the wonderfully preserved and thriving Victorian buildings.”

In addition to the museum, the town hosts an annual Steampunk festival which features a parade, fashion show, and more.

With its full scale train engine that spits fire and billows smoke. Steampunk HQ’ and the town or Oamaru have received The Lonely Planet Guide rating as one of New Zealand’s best new tourist attractions.

Check out these awesome photos from the museum, their 2014 fashion show, and some of the inventive machines from Steampunk Creations. Don’t forget to visit their Facebook page, or better yet, head down to Oamaru for the real deal!

Steampunk HQ Museum front in Oamaru, NZ

Hey, it couldn’t be a steampunk museum without an airship, right?

We would love to see this thing belching sparks and steam! And check out that earth auger on the front!	The museum also features what they call an Infinity Portal built in collaboration with Auckland Spatial Architect Angus Muir. Do Who fans, this is as close to time travel as you’re going to find right now. What a place for a selfie, right?
What a great costume! We see lots of mechanical arms but brass legs are fairly uncommon. Fanny, in our upcoming novel has an enhanced prosthetic leg too. Perhaps it looks like this one!	Check our this woman’s steam hoverboard. Eat your heart out Marty McFly!
Those New Zelanders don’t do things by halves, do they? A steam pram!	This chap is featured on the fliers advertising the 2015 Festival, and we can understand why.
This typewriter is simply amazing. Where do you begin to describe it?	We love the inventiveness of steampunk weapons makers. Contrast these two pistols to the one featured in our post on South America. Both different but both very cool!
How cool is this? A steampunk stein! One wonders if, with the pressure gauge and the mini boiler, does it actually brew for you too?	This image was unlabeled but, with that black lid, we like to think of it as the ultimate time travel mug. Keeping your coffee (r whatever beverage it might be) piping hot as you shuttle from place to place and time to time. Bet even the Doctor doesn’t have one of these in the Tardis.