Oamaru: New Zealand's living Victorian town

Oamaru: New Zealand's living Victorian town

Liam Butler interviews Paul Sorrell author of Oamaru: New Zealand's living Victorian town

10 October 2014

Liam Butler

In Oamaru: New Zealand's living Victorian town, 176 pages paperback $50 www.penguin.co.nz author Paul Sorrell and photographer Graham Warman celebrate the town's outstanding architectural heritage and meet the fascinating characters who call Oamaru home.

Question One

Oamaru - New Zealand's living Victorian Town - is home to the steampunk movement. What on earth is steampunk and why Oamaru?

Steampunk is still a bit of a mystery to me, but it seems to have to do with bringing the preoccupations and values of the Victorian age not only into the present, but into the future as well. Hence the interest in science fiction, but given nineteenth-century dress, and followers' fascination with sci-fi stories from Jules Verne to Doctor Who.

Oamaru's Victorian precinct provides the ideal backdrop for steampunk activities, and steampunkers have been attracted to it like a moth to a flame. The movement runs the gamut from the heavy-duty gothic paraphernalia on show at Steampunk HQ to the nattily dressed Victorian man-about-town sporting embroidered waistcoat, top hat and raygun.

Question Two

Bookbinder Michael O' Brien was drawn to Oamaru's nineteenth-century architecture on a family visit aged 15. Michael, like many of Oamaru's inhabitants, moved to the coastal town to get a different outlook on life. Why do you think so many older people choose to live in Oamaru rather than somewhere that is a fair bit warmer year round?

I'm not sure that older people are over-represented in Oamaru, but it's a small, quiet town that occasionally bursts into vibrant life, especially in midwinter with the Oamaru on Fire weekend and the big heritage festival and fete each November. Older folk certainly look relaxed and comfortable dressed in their Victorian and Edwardian attire on these occasions, as do the younger set.

Oamaru being an agricultural service town, I suspect many farming families choose to retire here - and there are certainly plenty of activities to get involved in.

Question Three

The section Victorian Fare: A Taste of Oamaru includes an exceptionally tasty recipe for Real Good Fudge Gooseberry Cake. Have you noticed an increase in popularity for traditional recipes and what are your favorite ones that you showcase in this book?

Sadly, I have yet to sample any of the recipes with the exception of Steam Café's wonderful brioche and mince and cheese pies. My view is that any book will benefit by having a few recipes included, including novels and official reports (especially them). We tried to get a balance between local restaurateurs like Steam Café's Toni McLennan and Bevan Smith up State Highway 1 at Riverstone Kitchen, on the one hand, and Victorian fare on the other, as represented by Oamaru identity Annie Baxter. Annie is shown whipping up her highly dedcadent triple lemon swiss roll in the period kitchen at Burnside Homestead as, sadly, Annie's Victorian Tea Rooms in Tees Street are no longer in operation.

Nor unfortunately is Fleur Sullivan's Loan and Merc Restaurant in the precinct - but readers can find heaps of Fleur's recipes in our very first Penguin book, Fleurs Place!

Real Good Fudge Gooseberry Cake

Real Good Fudge

Inspired by the rambling wild gooseberry patch at Tracy Tessier-Varlet's place, this cake is moist, scrumptious and keeps well. It is always a popular choice in the café, served with cream, yoghurt or their own Real Good Fudge ice cream.

Serves 8-10

125g butter

1 ¾ cups brown sugar

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla essence

250g sour cream or yoghurt

2 ½ cups plain flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

500g gooseberries, topped and tailed cinnamon and brown sugar for decoration

Preheat oven to 160°C. Line a 22cm cake tin with baking paper. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla essence. Fold in sour cream. Sift flour, baking soda and cinnamon, then fold into the mixture.Fold gooseberries into mixture and put the batter into the cake tin.Sprinkle a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon on top.Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.Reproduced with permission from Oamaru by Paul Sorrell and Graham Warman. Published by Penguin Group NZ. RRP $50.00. Copyright © text Paul Sorrell, 2014.

Copyright © photographs Graham Warman, 2014.

A bit more about Oamaru: New Zealand's living Victorian town...

In a country where timber construction rules supreme, Oamaru's Victorian precinct is unique. Ornately decorated whitestone buildings that in the nineteenth century housed banks, hotels and grain stores have been lovingly restored and become home to thriving artisan businesses that make this South Island centre one of the world's best examples of a living Victorian town.

Stroll along bustling Harbour and Tyne streets and you may encounter locals bedecked in Victorian costume or getting about on penny farthings. Visit during the annual Victorian fête and you could easily think you've slipped back 150 years in time as women in crinolines and bonnets and gentlemen wearing fancy waistcoats and top hats parade through the streets or gather for croquet and traditional high tea. Boasting more than just a collection of well-preserved historic buildings, Oamaru is a Victorian town at work.

To enter the draw CLICK HERE draw closes 24th October 2014 . Open to NZ residents only.

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