A "Castle" and Penguins!
Tuesday, April 2
This morning Mom, Dad, and I participated in a "Castle Cruisers" tour of Larnach Castle and sites around Dunedin. Our driver and guide, Mark, picked us up right at the apartment and we were the only people in the 13 passenger van, so we got a private tour (fancy, I know). We visited the Larnach tomb, the Dunedin Railway Station, Baldwin Street (the steepest street in the world), The Octagon, and then Larnach Castle.
During the drive, we learned all about William Larnach, the man who built the castle we were about to see. Of Scottish heritage, Larnach grew up in Australia and became a bank manager there and eventually moved to New Zealand and became the Otago Bank Manager. When he was 26 years old he married a 17 year old heiress, Eliza Jane Guise. Before becoming the Otago Bank Manager, he traveled to London with his wife and her half sister, Mary Alleyn. His first wife died and two years later he married her half sister. When she died, he married a third time to Constance de Bathe Brandon. During all of this, he became a member of the New Zealand Parliament, was essentially kicked out, but years later became a member again. His third wife and his oldest son had an affair and when he got proof of it, he locked himself in a room in Parliament and took his own life. A disturbing family history, but a beautiful building!
Larnach Castle isn't really a castle, but more like a mansion. (While studying abroad in Scotland, I learned what a castle - and palace - really is, so now I'm particular in my classification.) Even so, it's New Zealand's only "castle". It has beautiful double verandas that Larnach modeled after homes in his native Australia, but the winds are much colder on the Otago peninsula, so they became enclosed with glass instead. The ballroom was added on as a gift to his kids because they didn't like their aunt/second mother. The castle is also known for its extensive gardens, themed after "Alice in Wonderland" but once Mark was done giving us the tour and gave us free time to explore them, it was raining, so we opted for an inside display about the family who currently owns the property.
We were dropped back off at the apartment around 2:00pm, then had lunch before heading to the Otago Musuem, just down the street from where we were staying. We had about an hour and a half before it closed and we packed a lot in. We stopped at a bookstore but then headed back to the apartment for the evening because it was cold and rainy.
Wednesday, April 3
Back to the Otago Museum this morning to finish what we started! As we were walking to the museum, we heard someone calling to us from the cars passing by. Very confused at first as to who would know us and call to us here, we realized it was Charlie getting a ride from a friend!
Charlie sent me a message about a sale in front of the University Union, so after visiting every exhibit in the museum, we walked over to check it out. It was like a flea market/farmers market/group garage sale! Different students had tables of nick-nacks and jewelry and racks of clothes that they were selling. We checked out the sales (and saw Charlie walking from class), then ate at the Grill in the student union. Mom and I ordered "Chicken Nibbles" which we thought was going to be chicken nuggets, but when they came to our table they were actually chicken wings! I also had a nutella shake, which was a lot thinner than shakes in the U.S.
We went back to the apartment and Charlie came over after class. He told us about the "Organpipes", a natural rock formation, so we drove out to see them. It ended up being a much bigger climb than we anticipated (we essentially climbed a good portion of a mountain), but as usual, the views were pretty spectacular! We then went to Tunnel Beach, another spot Charlie heard about, but again, the hike was more than anticipated and we turned back fairly quickly on that one.
Out the Otago Peninsula we then headed to the Albatross Center to see some Little Blue Penguins. This is what we had planned to do Monday evening before our plans got cancelled. We bought tickets, then had about 40 minutes before the tour started. At 7:30pm, one of our guides, David, led an introduction to the penguins and orientation of the evening then we all (about 30 people total) headed outside and down the stairs to the viewing platform on the beach. During the day, the penguins are out in the water searching for food, then they wait until darkness to come back to their nests on land. The tour is scheduled to end at 8:45pm and it was almost 8:30 before we saw the first Little Blue Penguin come on the beach. They were SO CUTE as they scuttled across the sand, then up the rocks to find their nests. After the first ones came, the rest came fairly steadily. In total we saw nine come up to their nests and the guides let us stay out watching them 10 minutes longer than usual! We were all pretty stoked to see them (Mom especially) and it was the perfect ending to a day.
This morning Mom, Dad, and I participated in a "Castle Cruisers" tour of Larnach Castle and sites around Dunedin. Our driver and guide, Mark, picked us up right at the apartment and we were the only people in the 13 passenger van, so we got a private tour (fancy, I know). We visited the Larnach tomb, the Dunedin Railway Station, Baldwin Street (the steepest street in the world), The Octagon, and then Larnach Castle.
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| Dunedin's Railway Station |
During the drive, we learned all about William Larnach, the man who built the castle we were about to see. Of Scottish heritage, Larnach grew up in Australia and became a bank manager there and eventually moved to New Zealand and became the Otago Bank Manager. When he was 26 years old he married a 17 year old heiress, Eliza Jane Guise. Before becoming the Otago Bank Manager, he traveled to London with his wife and her half sister, Mary Alleyn. His first wife died and two years later he married her half sister. When she died, he married a third time to Constance de Bathe Brandon. During all of this, he became a member of the New Zealand Parliament, was essentially kicked out, but years later became a member again. His third wife and his oldest son had an affair and when he got proof of it, he locked himself in a room in Parliament and took his own life. A disturbing family history, but a beautiful building!
 |
| Larnach Castle with the ballroom on the right |
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| Entranceway |
Larnach Castle isn't really a castle, but more like a mansion. (While studying abroad in Scotland, I learned what a castle - and palace - really is, so now I'm particular in my classification.) Even so, it's New Zealand's only "castle". It has beautiful double verandas that Larnach modeled after homes in his native Australia, but the winds are much colder on the Otago peninsula, so they became enclosed with glass instead. The ballroom was added on as a gift to his kids because they didn't like their aunt/second mother. The castle is also known for its extensive gardens, themed after "Alice in Wonderland" but once Mark was done giving us the tour and gave us free time to explore them, it was raining, so we opted for an inside display about the family who currently owns the property.
 |
| Inside the ballroom, it's now a cafe. |
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| Larnach called his property "The Camp" This is the entrance floor of the castle. |
We were dropped back off at the apartment around 2:00pm, then had lunch before heading to the Otago Musuem, just down the street from where we were staying. We had about an hour and a half before it closed and we packed a lot in. We stopped at a bookstore but then headed back to the apartment for the evening because it was cold and rainy.
Wednesday, April 3
Back to the Otago Museum this morning to finish what we started! As we were walking to the museum, we heard someone calling to us from the cars passing by. Very confused at first as to who would know us and call to us here, we realized it was Charlie getting a ride from a friend!
Charlie sent me a message about a sale in front of the University Union, so after visiting every exhibit in the museum, we walked over to check it out. It was like a flea market/farmers market/group garage sale! Different students had tables of nick-nacks and jewelry and racks of clothes that they were selling. We checked out the sales (and saw Charlie walking from class), then ate at the Grill in the student union. Mom and I ordered "Chicken Nibbles" which we thought was going to be chicken nuggets, but when they came to our table they were actually chicken wings! I also had a nutella shake, which was a lot thinner than shakes in the U.S.
We went back to the apartment and Charlie came over after class. He told us about the "Organpipes", a natural rock formation, so we drove out to see them. It ended up being a much bigger climb than we anticipated (we essentially climbed a good portion of a mountain), but as usual, the views were pretty spectacular! We then went to Tunnel Beach, another spot Charlie heard about, but again, the hike was more than anticipated and we turned back fairly quickly on that one.
 |
| View from the Organpipes |
Out the Otago Peninsula we then headed to the Albatross Center to see some Little Blue Penguins. This is what we had planned to do Monday evening before our plans got cancelled. We bought tickets, then had about 40 minutes before the tour started. At 7:30pm, one of our guides, David, led an introduction to the penguins and orientation of the evening then we all (about 30 people total) headed outside and down the stairs to the viewing platform on the beach. During the day, the penguins are out in the water searching for food, then they wait until darkness to come back to their nests on land. The tour is scheduled to end at 8:45pm and it was almost 8:30 before we saw the first Little Blue Penguin come on the beach. They were SO CUTE as they scuttled across the sand, then up the rocks to find their nests. After the first ones came, the rest came fairly steadily. In total we saw nine come up to their nests and the guides let us stay out watching them 10 minutes longer than usual! We were all pretty stoked to see them (Mom especially) and it was the perfect ending to a day.
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| While waiting for the penguins, we had front row to the beautiful sunset. |
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| Penguins scurrying across the beach. |
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| They're little. They're blue. And they're penguins. |
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