Our hotel in Dunedin is the former Main Post Office. They had some fun with it. Their restaurant is accessed through the “Parcels” doorway – hence, it is “Parcels Restaurant.”
They also made small private dining areas out of the former vaults! (That was my favorite).
And below is an old picture of the queue outside the Post Office for Christmas parcels.
This morning was a bit of a rough one. The clocks had “Sprung Forward,” giving us one hour’s less sleep. I suppose the “good” part of it was that, instead of waking up at 4:00 a.m. as seems to be my schedule in New Zealand, I was up at 5:00 a.m. The “bad” part was that I got to sleep at what would have been 11:00 p.m. the night before!
A friend send me THIS ARTICLE, which I found fascinating, when she found out I was “down South” (laugh!) It’s about New Zealand being left off many world maps.
Did I tell you about Man’O’War winery Bordeaux blend called “Ironclad”? It’s a Waiheke Island wine and it is the best Bordeaux blend I have had in memory. Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Gorgeous deep dark color – huge voluminous nose. Complex palate – brambles, blackberry, cassis, exotic spice, graphite, and little “salty” deliciousness. Lynn and I had a bottle last night with a steak. NOM NOM.
This morning I reached for a cereal bowl and taking it off the pile disrupted the bowl underneath, which shattered with a great crash. The breakfast room fell silent and what could I do but shout “Ooopah!” Jim, Marilyn and Don delivered a piece to me later that had not been swept up, as a “memento.” I thought it made a perfect hat.
After breakfast, we were off to Larnach Castle. It is now privately owned by the Barker family. When they purchased it in 1967, it was empty and in a very sad state of repair, with many leaks, etc. They slowly re-gathered the furnishings from the surrounding town, as most of the original pieces hadn’t “gone far.” HERE is a link to their website, including a bit about the history.
Driving to Larnach Castle:
We started out in the Ballroom, which had a fire going, and tables set up for tea.
The first owner was originally in banking, and then started an import-export company.
The “ballast” on the ships were items for his home . . .
. . . such as ceiling beams, double-paned glass, and three enormous alabaster bathtubs, only one of which was able to make it into the house!
(The others wound up in the garden!)
Well – I shouldn’t say we started in the Ballroom. Actually, we started in the Castle Shop, because we had to wait out another tour group. I found another present for my Mom. This is unprecedented. Well, “unprecedented” unless the present is a tribal necklace! I purchased another coffee cup for myself, and am thinking I should let Dad choose one of them for himself (Hi Dad!).
After we had looked at the Ballroom (and stood a bit in front of the roaring fire!), we moved to the Music Room.
The beams in the ceiling were Douglas fir shipped from America.
The “servants’ mirror” was fascinating. The dining room wasn’t all that big. You, of course, needed your servants to be there to attend to your every whim; however, in such a small room, you didn’t want them “hovering” or – Goddess forfend! – looking at you! Et voila, the servants’ mirror. The servants would stand with their backs to the table, watching in the servants’ mirror on the wall. If someone at the table needed anything, they would be able to attend to it.
In the Dining Room, the English oak panels in the ceiling were adorned with flowers, birds and butterflies carved from mahogany and applied. Mr. Larnach imported two Italian plasterers for the sculptural work of grapes and vines to the sides of the ceiling. When he had the first two shipped in from Italy the ship delivering them went through Sydney – and they were having such a good time in Sydney that they decided not to leave! So he had to ship in two more! Three people spent six-and-a-half years carving the ceiling in the Main Foyer alone. The gecko you see in the photos above was the trademark of Louis Godfrey, who was contracted for wood carving at the Castle for 12 years.
In the Main Foyer, hand-etched Venetian glass represents the rose of England, the shamrock of Ireland, the silver fern of New Zealand, and the Scottish thistle. Scottish wild cats hold the Larnach motto “Sans Peur” (without fear). Of course, it’s a play on words too – Without (“Sans”) Purr :-) “The Camp” in the floor mosaic is what Mr. Larnach called the property.
The meaning of “Nemo Me Impune Lacessit” is “No one attacks me with impunity” – motto of Scotland and the Order of the Thistle.
The Staircase is a so-called Georgian “hanging” staircase. It is the only one in the Southern Hemisphere. The balusters are of mahogany and the handrail is not steam bent, but carved from solid kauri. It’s called a “hanging” staircase because it doesn’t have a central pillar around which the stairs curve.
Mr. Larnach married his first wife – who died at 38 after having 6 kids. Then his second wife also died at 38. He married his third wife, Constance, at 37 – maybe she didn’t know of the curse of marrying Mr. Larnach? He was far older than she was, and while he was away on business, she took up with his son. Ultimately she and her sister “went away to England for 10 months” (hmmmmmm). When they returned, it was such a scandal that Mr. Larnach, who was a member of Parliament, shot himself during a recess in session.
The above photos are from Constance’s room: The photos show her wedding dress, a close-up of its lace lily-of-the-valley pattern, and then her mourning dress. The “flying” woman might depict the ghost of the first wife – or might just be showing guests the Victorian undies. :-)
One of the parts of a house that would break – and was difficult to then repair – were the cords that raised and lowered sash windows. Mr. Larnach found a far stronger solution – he replaced the rope cords with bicycle chains!
After exhausting the rooms of the castle, up we went a steep, narrow stone staircase to reach the battlements. From 320m above the sea, the view commands a panorama from Dunedin, down the harbor past Port Chalmers to the Heads, and then along the coast.
The Harbor Cone is an extinct volcano and is the cone-shaped hill you can see through the crenellations in the photo below at the far right, and in the larger panorama below. At the Heads is the only accessible albatross colony in the world, and penguins nest along some of the beaches.
After finishing with main house, we were off into the gardens.
The stable is now lodging, as is Camp Estate and Larnach Lodge. There are a lot of “Alice In Wonderland” tributes in and around the garden.
To the left is actually the methane “factory.”
Mr. Larnach would have all the excrement gathered up that was “produced” on the estate, and then piled up in here. The methane coming off the “poop” powered the gal lights, etc. (Yes, really!)
Lynn decided on a spot to leave one of Jim’s cremarbles.
(She followed my “Celebration of Life” idea and had some of his ashes made into marbles.)
The spot is a nice place to rest and watch the ocean.
Jim’s marbles are larger, and blue. I tried to take a photo of it in the actual spot, but it was pretty dark in there! (In the big photo below, look for what look like white ‘sparkles’ to the right side of the hole, then you can make out the blue marble around them.)
The below is from a casino boat (though not the legs). You can see the size courtesy of Betsy my model ;-). In the close-up of the glass, you can see that it has opium poppies in the design, at the bottom!
A few photos from the “Native plant” garden. Mr. Larnach had had all the trees/plants cut down while he built the castle. After it was finished, however, he researched and had Natives re-planted (in the “correct” garden, of course!)
I have mentioned it before, but the enormous camelia, rhododendron, peony, etc. trees (yes, trees) throughout the area have been absolutely stunning.
After leaving Larnach Castle, we took a wee nap (1/2 hour) then headed out for a tour of Dunedin with Rod. We saw the churches, Robbie Burns statue (his nephew was somehow involved with Dunedin), and random penguin statues that were tied to local businesses.
inside the Railway Station:
My foot was about ready to call it a night, but I had spied a “Rock Shop” on the main street and headed in to see if there was something special for Melissa. And, why, there sure was! I’m super pleased with myself. I’m having some good luck with presents.
Though the “gang” was at a pub down in town, Lynn and I opted to stay in the hotel and eat at Parcels. (In fact, our waitress was the one who showed us the “private vaults.”) We are now packing and re-packing and re-organizing, because we are only allowed to bring a small bag (a la a knapsack) onto the boat we will be living on in Milford Sound. I think that we’re nearly set – but if it’s super warm down there, we are going to be in trouble!
My knapsack right now holds silk underwear (top and bottom), meds, extra button-down shirt (I’m wearing a cashmere tank and button-down shirt, this is another one that goes with the tank), extra socks/undies, a bathing suit (unlikely, but I do have it), waterproof pants, PJs, a bottle of wine (hey now, don’t judge), a hokey pokey bar (yes, I know, bad . . . ), my “Whisper” (personal tour guide listening device), sunglasses, passport, money, a Henley that can go over the whole mess, hot/cold Thermos hanging on a clip to the side. Then, on top, H’s ditty bag pared down to brush, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, hair clip, face lotion, meds, sunscreen, NED Mellö Magnesium (use discount code JOY and please one of my clients LOL). I will also be wearing a down vest, flannel hat, gloves, and a raincoat. Once I finish this blog, the computer and power source will go in there – tomorrow, the cell phone :-) But as you can see, if it’s actually warm down there, I’m in trouble, ha ha. (It’s supposed to be between 9-16C or about 48-62F.)
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