Day #11 - New Zealand Travel Adventure (Lanarch Castle to Te Anau)

We left Larch Castle in Dunedin after a very filling Kiwi Breakfast of eggs, toast, portabella mushroom, home fries, sausage, bacon, juice, coffee, fruit, cereals, etc. It was much more that I could eat. With our stomachs full, we checked out of the castle and drove into town to fill the tank for transit to Te Anau. We decided to drive to Queenstown to check this town out because we will be in a rush on our return from the Milford Sound and we had extra time today.

The geography changed rapidly from coastal hills to high mountains and lakes suggestive of our Rocky Mountains. Queenstown is a very active town for young people and it looks like it is mainly a skiing town in the winter time. The hills are filled with houses overlooking a lake or river and it reminds me very much of an Alpine ski community. It is not a town I would want to live in.

From Queenstown, we drove to Te Anau, a town that is near the Milford Sound that we planned to visit in the morning. 

Lake Te Anaou

Lake Te Anaou is the second largest lake in New Zealand. 

Lake Te Anau  Click the link to learn more.

Our motel is the Anchorage and the room is an efficiency apartment with a jacuzzi tub. We used the jacuzzi tub but not the cooking facilities. They do have great free wireless internet and Sky TV with 50+ channels. The motel is within easy walking distance to Lake Te Anau, the second largest lake in New Zealand, and to the downtown. The town is quite small, but has the necessary restaurants, petrol stations, bars, etc. 

We had a light dinner of soup and the necessary dark beer before going to bed early. We plan to go to the Milford Sound in the morning.

Day #10 - New Zealand Travel Adventure - Dunedin and the Lanarch Castle (Monday)

Kaikoura to Lanarch Castle in Dunedin

We made it to Lanarch Castle on the Otago Peninsula. We left our room in Kaikoura at 6 am, stopped to grab a flat white coffee in a takeaway cup and headed south on Route 1. Like California’s costal highway 1, this is a winding road that is a bit slow going. We went through two quite narrow tunnels that were a bit scary, but mostly the drive was without traffic at that time of the morning on a Sunday. Most motorists are probably still in bed since they were watching the All Blacks rugby team win the semi-finals at 3 am.

Leaving Kaikoura

Narrow tunnel just south of Kaikoura

Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch

We got off the highway to drive through Christchurch to see how they were recovering from their severe earthquake damage sustained on February 11, 2011. Even though the earthquake registered on 6.3 on the Richter Scale, there was severe liquefaction of the soil and much of the downtown was destroyed. As we drove by today, there is still much to be done in terms of rebuilding their infrastructure and buildings.

Christchurch Earthquake

In a town called St. Andrews, we ate lunch at a great place called the Masonic Hotel (42 Waimate Highway). It is owned by a couple who do all of the hotel jobs, including the bar, cooking and hotel duties. The husband is a retired master plumber who became a widower. He met his wife who was a home health nurse and who was in an abusive relationship. They are now are happily married to each other and do an amazing job. We ordered the house hamburger that was gigantic and again, it had a fried egg, beet root, salad, relish and cheese. I would highly recommend stopping at this place if you travel down Route 1.

A Great Place to Eat!

In Omaru, there is a penguin colony, but as we wanted to get to Lanarch Castle, we did not stop. Since the travel time from Kaikoura was so long, and the distance was 548 kilometers, I might recommend stopping in either Omaru or Timaru for the evening if you have extra travel time.

We arrived at the castle at about 3 pm. It is 10 kilometers from Dunedin, but it is well worth the drive. Our room was called The Rhododendron Room and had a balcony with a great view of the water. Internet was free and of great speed. 

View from room

Interesting Wallpaper

We took a tour of Lanarch Castle with a free audio device to enhance the tour. Following the castle tour, Earline and I toured the great English gardens that were immaculate. 

History of the Lanarch Castle

Lanarch Castle

Lanarch Castle

The castle tour:

 Staircase carved from a solid piece of Kaouri wood

 One of three bathtubs carved from solid granite and weighing several tones each.

We had dinner in the castle’s dining room with an included three course meal. It was quite special and there was only one other couple dining in the castle with us. I got to play one of the antique pianos before dinner.

We move onward tomorrow to Te Anau for our visit to the Milford Sound on Tuesday.