New Zealand South Island day 25 – Dunedin


It’s a lovely, clear day, sunny and warm as we set out to explore the Otago Peninsular which stretches the length of Otago Harbour and covers 19000 hectares. The round trip taking the harbourside road out to Taiaroa Heads and returning on the Highcliff Road is about 64 kilometres of breathtakingly beautiful scenery. The road winds around the bays of Otago Harbour hugging the quiet shoreline before climbing into the hills and revealing at each twist and turn extensive and magnificent panoramas the length of the enormous inlet; the Pacific coastline to the north and south; and glimpses of bays and steep valleys dotted with newly-shorn sheep.

Our first stop is Larnach Castle – which has the distinction of being New Zealand’s only castle. Built in the 19th century by William Larnach, a banker and politician, it is a curious mixture of English manor house and New Zealand colonial architecture – a stone-built tower-and-turret affair with a glazed lace ironwork verandah around it. Inside, it is unusually homely for a ‘castle’, with modestly proportioned rooms that visitors are free to wander into and around without restriction or the usual ropes cordons. The views from the tower are just to die for and on this sunny clear day it is possible to see the length off the peninsular from Dunedin at one end of the inlet to the Pacific at the other. The grounds too, are very prettily laid out with a raised lawn, Italian fountain and laburnum-clad pergola (which must be lovely when it is in flower) through which there is a glimpse of the harbour in the distance. Several other gardens lead off from the formal lawn in front of the house, one in particular having fabulous views. The castle was bought by the Barker family in 1967 after a period of neglect and they have made it their life’s work to restore it which they have done magnificently.

From Larnach Castle we drive on to the Royal Albatross Colony at the end of the peninsular. There is a large visitor’s centre but little access to the colony itself which is fenced off. Pilot Bay just below the centre affords the best possibility for viewing the Albatross, although we only see two or three, as well as a few seals resting on the rocks. The latter hard to spot without binoculars as they merge so well with the rocks along the shoreline. It’s windy and chilly despite the sun and we don’t dally long.

We meander back towards Dunedin on the Pacific side of the peninsular which takes onto unsurfaced roads to the Pyramids – two hills so-called for their remarkable geometric contours – around Papanui and Hoopers Inlets both wonderfully wild and almost empty of cars, until eventually we return to the Highway Road down into Dunedin.

Unfortunately, although wonderfully scenic all the major attractions and in particular the wild life sanctuaries are commercially run, making it almost impossible to see anything other than the seals and sea lions and the odd albatross in flight unless you part with some serious dosh.

Word of the day: superette – small supermarket

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