Funky Towns

‘Character,’ according to the dictionary, is the quality of being individual, typically in an interesting or unusual way. With that description in mind, we went in search of New Zealand towns with genuine character, towns with strong, distinct personalities.

Plenty of New Zealand towns are delightfully pretty, really friendly, try hard to attract visitors, or are in such beautiful locations they don’t even have to try. But those with genuine ‘character’ are, we believe, quite rare.

Here’s what we found.

Funky Towns - Oamaru

Oamaru’s heritage precinct is home to the weird & wonderful world of Steampunk – an imagined future where electricity fizzled out & steam remained king.