After a good night’s sleep we got up to have a nice breakfast and went back to the Royal Albatross Center for our Albatross tour. Our tour was booked for 1pm since I expected we’d sleep in and take lots of photos on the way to the center. We got up regular time and didn’t stop for photos and got there about 10:15am just when the center opened. We were able to change our tour to 11:30am. That still gave us plenty time to browse the shop and photograph the Red-billed gulls which are prevalent in Dunedin but are declining elsewhere. They are called Silver Gulls in other areas.
We saw some (5 or so) Northern Royal Albatross on the nest but none flying until our guide took us to her secret spot- the fort observation room. There we saw one soaring back and forth- so very amazing- they look incredible as they fly. They have an 11-12 foot wing span and are very efficient flyers. They land on land once every two years to mate and raise a chick. Otherwise they fly the southern oceans and once in a while, when they are tired, they land in the water to rest. They can fly over 80,000 miles a year, which is over 3 times around the earth.
After getting back to Larnach Castle and resting a bit, we went to High Tea at the castle. It was delicious.
After tea we toured the Larnach Castle. A wealthy merchant/banker/politician started building it in 1871 as a grand home for his first wife. Extravagant materials from around the world were used- including Italian marble, Belgium tiles, Venetian glass, Douglas fir from America, Australian and New Zealand native woods. It took 200 workers three years for the shell, with European artisans spending another 12 years on the intricate interiors(furniture, wall paneling, ceiling plaster work, tile laying, wood carving)
Sadly his wife died relatively young. After other family tragedies and deaths, financial ruin, and suicides the castle fell into ruin. It was purchased by the Baker family in 1967. They lived in it while renovating it into a major tourist attraction. It is the only castle in New Zealand.
The castle had no furniture when the Bakers purchased it and as part of the restoration, they have purchased items that were originally in the castle or were owned by members of the Larnach family.
We had more rain this afternoon but by evening it was clear. Tibor wandered around the grounds looking for the bird with the clear bell-like song. We suspect it’s the bell bird but don’t know for sure. He was able to photograph the bird making the call and he was very excited.
We had a 4 course candlelight dinner in the original dining room of Larnach Castle. Tibor had lamb, of course, while I had tuna. Since the tuna ended up being very peppery, Tibor got to have tuna as well as New Zealand lamb. He was happy.
