Larnach Castle

I decided to stay the night at New Zealand’s castle. Staying in the stables cost less than other places I looked at, and enabled me to see more of the Otago peninsula yesterday. I had dinner at the castle, which was a set menu, with all guests dining together at the long table. My neighbours were great, and the food was good, so it was an enjoyable choice.

This morning I had free access to both the castle and its gardens, after a cooked breakfast. One of the reasons for staying here was to see the gardens, which are one of the top gardens in New Zealand. But I decided to visit the castle first, before it became far too crowded. When you enter the castle, you are directed along part of the enclosed verandah.

William Larnach had the ceilings of the main rooms of the castle designed in Europe.

The main rooms are sumptuous.

You can climb up to the tower, where you can see views all over the estuary.

The gardens are also very impressive, especially the views.

They have a laburnum walk, which had stopped flowering, but still had great views and a good view of the castle.

After I had finished looking around the place, I went back to Dunedin, and took a brief stop to climb to the war memorial for the men from the Otago peninsula who died in the First World War.

When I reached Dunedin, I dropped off the car and walked to the cruise wharf to catch my ship. It was a very windy walk, but I had a couple of hours, and easily made it through the industrial area.