The Caitlins and Dunedin

We took the southern scenic route from Te Anua to The Caitlins. The country side was filled with sheep and deer farms all along the way. Very picturesque. The final stretch of road was along the southern coast which is really wild and only sparsely populated. The south westerly winds are so strong that the trees along the coast are all bent flat and are very dry. No doubt the salt spray from the sea has a negative effect as well.

We stayed in a very nice B&B which is on a farm. I believe the owners said that they have 2700 sheep and 500 deer. We had a very nice dinner in the cafe down the road which was in an old school house. We were the only 2 customers and they closed the kitchen shortly after we got our meals. Close to the cafe was their Niagara Falls;it is so small that we missed it the first time altogether.

The next day we headed for Dunedin stopping several times along the way for walks and to visit some more waterfalls (much bigger). The weather was cool (only 11 C) with showers. Nevertheless, the walks were very pleasant as we were properly dressed and the walks took us through some really pretty rain forests. We are always surprised by how lush the forests are here.

When we arrived in Dunedin we made our way to Larnach Castle where we were booked for one night. We were surprised at first to learn that guests do not actually stay in the castle which is really a museum; rather in a lodge on the castle grounds. However, once we saw our room all our misgivings disappeared. We were assigned the Queen Victoria room which has a canopy bed and spectacular views of the coast. Since our room had a large soaking tub we decided to have a nice bath together along with a glass of wine. Both King and Queen were extremely happy and relaxed by the time it was time to go to dinner. We decided to have dinner in the castle dinning room which seats about 20 people around an antique table.

Before dinner we had drinks and got to meet out fellow diners whom turned out to be very charming indeed. At dinner one of the guests (physiologist wouldn't you know) suggested that each of us to say a few words about who we were, where we came from and what we considered to be an important lesson about life. Lucille talked about the fact that even though all the people present had come from different parts of the world and how well we all got along and how much we had in common. I mentioned how important it was to live for the moment since we never know what the future holds in store for us.

We really enjoyed the evening as we had a lot of laughs, and the food and wine were excellent. The castle is owned by the Barker family who have spent many years restoring it to something of its former graciousness. The castle was built by William Larnach in the late 1880's and clearly didn't worry about the cost since took about 10 years to complete. It is filled with fine furniture, marble and imported woods. Beautiful!

The next day we drove to the tip of the peninsula to see the Albatross Colony. These birds have the longest wingspan of any bird (3.3 meters) and this is the only place in the world where they nest so close to humans. We were fortunate enough to see one flying (impressive) and a mother grooming her chick. We also saw plenty of other birds, 2 dolphins ridding the bow wave of a passing ship and a few seals or sea lions (we can't tell the difference).

We then visited the old Scottish train station which is made of stone and has some beautiful stained glass windows and colorful tiles. Since it was lunch time we ended up having lunch in the station which specializes in traditional Scottish food and I had a real Scottish beer called Belhaven, I think. Anyway it was very good!




Next stop Lake Tekapo.