Victoriana Time warp - Oamaru

Strolling into the Victorian Precinct of Oamaru, you are warmly greeted with the ambience of yesteryear.  19th century buildings, complete with trimmings of bicycles and signage, stand proud on the portside street. 

The mid 19th century saw more people living in Oamaru than San Fransisco.  Gold, wool, wheat and meat made the town a highly desirable spot to live in.  Around the 1870's a burgeoning agricultural industry and the newly developed frozen-meat industry promised exporters a full coffer.  Suddenly the local farmers of Totara Estate were ahead of the pack, being the first chosen in NZ to export frozen meat to new international markets.  Ships left on the rising tide, laden with frozen lamb, beginning their 98 day voyage to London.  The town flourished as hopefuls with dollar-signs in their eyes came to town.

Ships came and went, navigating the tricky Oamaru harbour.  A few shipwrecks happened in the dangerous harbour.  A large breakwater was constructed, with numerous piers built to accommodate the steamers for the new frozen meat trade.  It was all very prosperous!

Banks rolled into town, ready to outdo their rivals, and outbuild them too.  Many businessmen mortgaged themselves to the hilt in order to build magnificent buildings worthy of the wealth they aspired to.  Oamaru limestone mined from a local quarry was expertly carved into porticos, archways, and façades.  Buildings of magnificent proportions rose above the shore line, giving an air of elegance to the settlement.  

An impressive 50km limestone aquaduct was built by locals to bring clean water and abundant energy for industrial machinery into Oamaru from the Waitaki Rover.  Three years and a lot of money was spent on the aquaduct, and subsequently sent the town into near bankruptcy.  The harbour infrastructure had cost a lot of money too.  A more severe blow hit when the depression of the 1880's crushed dreams and most realised that Oamaru had become the best constructed and the highest mortgaged town in Australasia.  Money dried up, the population growth stopped, it all got a bit bleak.

No doubt each business had their story.  The elegantly crafted Criterion Hotel (below) was built in 1877, but when prohibition came in during 1905, it was used as a boarding house.  Over the years, the grand old building was even used for storage.  

Decades passed and the magnificent buildings lay derelict.  In the 1990's, Oamaru embraced it's Victorian heritage buildings, and restorations have brought a renewed vivaciousness to the area.

Possibly NZ's most gorgeous historic urban area, tourists enjoy a taste of antiquity.  The Victorian Precinct boasts a limestone carver, a book binder, numerous book shops, bakeries, a whisky distillery, art shops, impressive galleries, and cutesy wee crafty shops. 

Steampunk art and sculptures add another dimension to the urban landscape.  Rusted gadgetry, complete with moving parts and decorative bits mesmerise hoards of tourists.  Fire shoots out of the reconstructed train in front of the Steampunk HQ building.  There's definately the feeling of being transported to a different era, where gentlemen wore tophats and ladies wore hooped dresses.  Jam was homemade.  Lanterns were lit.  Neighbours knew each other, and shared garden harvests.  

Oamaru - fascinating history, vibrant present.