The Waitaki Museum, situated in the former Athenaeum building on 60 Thames Street, Ōamaru, offers beautifully presented exhibitions that showcase local natural and cultural stories. A notable exhibit is the Kā Puipuiaki O Korotuaheka, displaying a significant collection of taoka dating back to early Māori settlement, alongside the Stewart Willetts Family Collection featuring stone tools, adornments, and hunting items from the Waitaki River mouth. The museum is closed on Mondays, Good Friday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year's Day.
Entry to the Waitaki Museum is free, with donations being welcomed to support its operations, which are funded by the Waitaki District Council. In another part of Waitaki, the Steampunk HQ is housed in an 1880s Grain Elevator building in Oamaru. This unique museum offers an altered universe experience with retro-futuristic mirror and lighting installations, original glowing light sculptures, and a full-scale train engine outside that spits fire and emits smoke. Inside, visitors can explore contraptions, bizarre machinery using copper, gears, pipes, and gas cylinders, as well as skeletal sculptures illuminated by flickering lights accompanied by film, projection, and sound.