Monday 21 March, Dunedin City Tour & Lanarch Castle

We have a full day in Dunedin so Kathy & I decide to take a 1-hour city tour for a general look around and hear some of the history and other facts. We are picked up from the motel and the bus then waits until 10.00am in the Octagon (city centre). We are it, no one else on the bus, and they have no minimum number so off we go on a private tour. Richard, the company boss was very chatty and knowledgeable so we learned a lot about the history including the fact that originally it was called New Edinburgh but was later changed to the Celtic for Edinburgh (which is Dunedin isn't it!). We also saw the steepest street in the world, Baldwin Street, and later leaned that Colin had walked there, and walked up and down the street (he says, and he has shown me what he calls photographic evidence).

We learn that today is Otago Day, the anniversary of the founding of Dunedin i.e. Otago Province. Unfortunately, it seems that Otago Province no longer exists, having been abolished, along with all the other provinces in 1876. But that minor fact doesn't seem to bother the locals.

After lunch we leave the motel and drive out along the Otago Peninsula to Lanarch Castle, which is a 19th Century house built by a prominent Dunedin businessman and politician. We tour the house in the afternoon and then sit in the warm late afternoon sun on our veranda enjoying the spectacular view and a glass of wine. The view from the old fashioned chain pull flush toilet is just as good. We are all just blown away by how good our private lookout is.

Most people just tour the house and/or gardens but we had booked to stay the night and enjoy a special meal served in the old dining room with some of the other guests. We have aperitifs in the library before moving to the dining room where we sit at a large table. We discover that except for two Kiwi guys we are all from WA, and we sit across from four Esperance folks!