Dunedin, Port Chalmers and Larnach Castle

We visited a rainy Dunedin and Port Chalmers for an excursion to Larnach Castle.

The city was founded by the Scottish Free Church in 1848.  Amazing how much this area and its weather is like Scotland.

Grabbing our raincoats, we headed off to the bus for our tour.  The bus driver was very funny and informative about the area and its history.

We made a short stop at the train station.  It is very old and ornate.  From the outside, it looks like a castle or mansion.

The floor was of very small tiles and very detailed.

We drove down from the port and through the city then beyond and up to the castle.

The castle was a very interesting building.  Lots of history and we did enjoy our tour.

As the tour started, we got a detailed history of the construction and some of the family that owned the home.

The castle is very ornate with many carvings on walls, ceilings, and many doors.

Throughout there was woodworks and furniture that was very impressive.

The climb up to the top of the tower was very narrow so I did that on my own.

The grounds were impressive.

At the end of the tour, we stopped into the café to get something.  They normally serve coffee and tea on chinaware. We did not have enough time since our bus was leaving soon. Shawna had to order "take away" for them to understand she wanted disposable cups.  There are some differences in how you order food in some countries.

The garden around the castle had some very nice flowers.

Back through the city and back to port.  It rained almost the entire day and only started to clear up as we pulled out of port.

The wind really kicked up and the pilot looked to be struggling to keep the ship in the tight channel through the bay.  It twisted and turned with little room on either side for error. ​

Our last view of the area was a Royal Albatross colony just at the exit to the channel.

Sadly, the captain came over the PA and said that we would not be able to enter the Fjords and see those as planned.  A low pressure system has made winds and high waves too dangerous for us to visit them.  As a result, we are heading for extra sea days and some rough seas.

Well, we have a film crew on board working on a commercial for Holland America.  They have several actors some of which are children and at least as many in the production crew.  It was interesting watching them go through the process of getting the shots for the commercial.

Tonight, Shawna and I went to the Billboard Onboard (dueling piano bar).  They were FANTASTIC.  It was All Requests and the audience really put them to the challenge of dozens of songs to sing.

A great end to the day.