Steampunk time travellers get their spooky on

Steampunkers Tina Whibley and Catherine Connolly are ready for their Halloween party with their outrageous costumes and quirky steampunk personas. Photo / Rebecca Mauger

Bessie Treadler travels through time repairing the threads of time after they have been damaged by other travellers.

Sounds legit.

She's otherwise known as Paeroa steampunk enthusiast Tina Whibley. Her persona is a combination of her grandmother Bessie and the Treadler of a sewing machine.

Time travelling repair tools swing from her waist and Bessie's get-up is bright green colour to warn other travellers of her presence.

It's just a bit of fun, Tina says, and a chance to blow off steam when she's not working in the emergency department at Thames Hospital.

Steampunk Paeroa are having a steampunk/Halloween event. Organiser Catherine Connolly is turning up as ''the poisoner'' with her outfit of bats, snakes, spiders, scorpions and other gadgets.

Her general persona is ''Lady Cat Meow, 16th century traveller from Venus aligned to the cat planet''.

Cat says Halloween works beautifully with steampunk as the spooky celebration is an oddity.

''We have a lot of gadgets and things such as steampunk vampire hunting kits like the Victorians loved. Our love of gadgets comes from all sorts of places and history, recycling, revamping and just being creative."

Cat says steampunkers are coming locally and from Tauranga and Thames but anyone can come along.

''They can do either Halloween or steampunk or a combination, if they don't believe in Halloween, they can wear what they like. Anything goes in steampunk.''

The event will give people the chance to chat to steampunkers about their quirky and elaborate outfits, she says.

The idea is to coincide the Steampunk Halloween Party with the Paeroa Lions fireworks display.

Cat says they want to ''promote Hauraki and the Coromandel and for our group to make it more community based''.

Cat is ''testing the waters'' and is hoping to organise a mini steampunk festival next year. The steampunk party will go ahead either at level 1 or 2.

The Details
What: Steampunk Halloween Style
Where: L&P Cafe, Bar and Brasserie, Paeroa
When: October 30, 5pm