The East Coast

We went south mainly on the west coast of the South Island and now we are traveling north on the east coast.

Dunedin

Dunedin is the Gaelic name for Edinburgh.  The city was founded in 1848 by settlers of the free Church of Scotland, a break-away group from the Presbyterian Church.  The city's Scottish roots are still visible; you'll find the only kilt shop in the country, the first and only whisky distillery, and a statue of Scottish poet, Robert Burns.  

       

There are two good reasons to stop in for a Dunedin visit.  One is the is Cadbury World.   Who  is not familiar with all the wonderful candy that Cadbury makes?  We didn't have time to stop in to see how they got the caramel into the chocolate pockets, however we've been sampling the bars all along trying to figure it out.   The second reason to visit Dunedin is Spreight's Brewery Heritage Centre for a tour of the South's top brewery.  We didn't have time for that either as we only had time for one sight in the area and we chose to go to Otago Peninsula (nearby) to see Larnach Castle. 

    

Larnach Castle
High on a hilltop with commanding views from its battlements, Larnach Castle is the grand baronial fantasy of William Larnach, an Australian born businessman and politician.  The castle, built in the mid-1870's, was a vast extravagance even in the free-spending days of the gold rush era.

Unfortunately, like so many of these visionaries he did not have long to enjoy his creation.  In 1898 Larnach committed suicide.  He shot himself in Parliament House.  Apparently he was beset by a series of financial disasters and marital problems.  According to one version of the story, Larnach's third wife, whom he married at an advanced age (50ish), ran off with his youngest son.   

Soon after William's death his heirs sold the castle. 

In 1967 Margaret and Barry Barker purchased Larnach Castle.  By that time the castle buildings and grounds were in a dreadful state.  The castle was empty of furniture and leaked like a sieve; the ballroom had been used to pen sheep.  

When the Barkers bought the Castle many people thought (and told them!) that they were crazy to take on such a mammoth and apparently impossible task. It has taken a significant amount of time, effort, money, and research, but Barkers have gotten the last laugh.  Larnach Castle has been restored to the original exacting standards of Larnach's time. 

The castle is still privately owned by the Barker family.  It is in fact their family home.  You enter the castle by going up the grand staircase and ringing the doorbell.  You are let in by a hostess who hands you a floor plan (there are no velvet ropes) and thus you start your tour of the house and grounds.   

The Lost Seal
We stopped at a camp site just north of the little town of Oamaru.  From the camp ground we went for a walk that followed a country road for 1 km or so and found the beach.  Between us and the beach there was a berm of large, rock gravel - it stretched as far as the eye could see.  When we climbed the ridge we saw that the stones also formed the beach - there was no sand.

On the shore, no more that 50 meters away, lay a seal.   Initially we thought it was dead, but as we watched it moved a flipper.   We went down to the beach and when we were level with the seal it turned it's body so that it could watch us.

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When we walked back up the hill of gravel it turned it's body so that we were still in sight.  I imagine it was more curious of us than we were of it.  What was curious was the fact the seal was on a flat beach and all alone.  What was the story there?


Rain
Rain again.  When we went to bed it was a beautiful sunny day so we left the windows open.  When we got up we realized that the rain had gotten in - the bedding,  and one cushion was sopping.  It rained all day.  We decided that if it was still raining by the end of our driving day we'd have to get a motel.
We had planned on a stop in Christchurch to see how the repairs were coming along after last years earthquake.  The rain drove us on.  Around 4:30 it had settled to an occasional drizzle.  We stopped at Kaikoura.  This towns claim to fame is that it is a good place to whale watch- particularly the sperm whale.  You can take a boat excursion, or you can see them by helicopter or by plane.  We did none of the above.  We will see them on National Geographic.




Other

A vineyard

A vineyard