Absinthe (makes the heart grow fonder)

Day one of the steampunk festival in Oamaru. Or rather, evening one, as it began at 7:30 with the initial get-together helped along by the promise of absinthe tasting. I was amazed by the number of steampunkers who turned up and the quality of the costumes they wore. No half-hearted efforts from those hard-core steamies! The absinthe expert explained it all - the absinthe fountain; glass tower with tiny taps that dripped chilled water into the absinthe til it louched (went cloudy), the silver perforated spoon to hold the sugar cube in case the bitterness of the wormwood in the absinthe was too much for the drinker and the brands of various quality he brought to share. Green Fairy, it turns out, is gut-rot; flavoured and coloured and good for nothing. The other brands he offered us were excellent and I'm a fan. The were no visions or hallucinations that I can report, as I showed admirable constraint but I was impressed by the event and the characters who ran it. A quiz, held for no apparent reason, kept the evening buoyant and interesting, though I enjoyed circulating and meeting the crazy folk all dressed in black, brass and glass, from all around the country. I didn't take photos there as it would have been out of character to brandish a digital camera, so here are some shots taken this morning; of the early sun striking the stone church and sculptures of the town. Another of a gruesome scene where two butchers were unloading half-animals into their shop and another showing a view of the harbour taken through a window in the art gallery. As well, I'll throw in pics of my shopping; a paint-by-numbers treasure, as needlework of root vegetables and the barrel of the ray-gun I'll make for next year :-)