New Zealand Day 2

The plan was to get up early, get showered and start south by eight o’clock despite the late night of our arrival. We did manage to get on the road by 8:30, which was late, but still seemed pretty early. Since there are five of us plus Randy's brother and his wife, we had to take two cars. It’s been great getting to know them because we haven’t seen in ten years. Mom and Auntie and one of the boys rode in one car, and Dad rode with his brother and the other boys in the other car.

We made only a few stops on our way to Dunedin, which is nearly a five hour drive. The day was absolutely perfect with a crisp clear sky meeting the Southern Alps on our right, and the ocean making appearances on our left. We were amazed at how much New Zealand reminds us of the rolling hills and farms of Utah. It was easy to see the reason a Utah boy would want to live here. The boys did great in the car, despite being split up.

Our first stop was for gas and to take a picture or two at an old Church called Sacred Heart in Timaru. The building proved to be closed, though, and had scaffolding on the north tower. So we continued south, chatting and looking for birds. The boys were excited to see black swans, pukekos, swamp harriers, paradise ducks with pure white heads, and others we can only admire and not name.

We were very excited about the group of Pukekos right by the road. 

A few hours down the road we stopped at Oamaru for the lunch. We visited the outside of the Steampunk Museum, and Jim gave the boys a few coins to run the train outside. Then we took a short walk to the Visitor Center for the city. There was a large bicycle the boys wanted to sit on, and we picked up a few t-shirts for a small price. Next, we enjoyed the narrow European-like streets and grabbed some fish and chips from one of the small shops that seem to stand on every corner. We took the food up to the top of a hill that overlooked the ocean and sat at a picnic table. The day was beautiful, and we ate and talked and marveled at the view of the ocean.

Walking through the streets was amazing. 

The boys liked watching the train move at the SteamPunk Museum.

There was also a kaleidoscope to peek into. 

The city is beautiful!

Everyone took a turn riding the bicycle. 

But Dad was the most excited! 

The color of the water is gorgeous in New Zealand! 

We liked this sign that showed all the distances around the world. 

We were pretty far away from everything!

We stopped for a short hike to the Moeraki Boulders, which are huge, round marbles that sit right on the beach. It was a short walk and the tide was pretty high, so the boulders were mostly submerged and sticking halfway out of the water. We enjoyed the beach though it was cold and we had jackets on. The boys even picked up a few shells in the area. They proclaimed this their favorite part of the day.

The beach was perfect!

The boys had a great time playing at the beach.

Seth found these cool shells. The one on the right looks like a face with spiky hair.

We loved walking along the beach and seeing the cool boulders.

The Moeraki Boulders are so interesting! How did they get here?

Mark climbed on this rock and then the water came in.  

He was stuck for a little while!

Mom needed her jacket!

We enjoyed the beach even in the winter.

A few hours later we arrived at Dunedin and started out the Otago Peninsula. The drive was long and winding, but we wanted to visit an old castle that is about halfway out. We made it to Larnarch Castle before the five o'clock deadline despite the road construction. The castle was built in the late 1800s and had a beautiful garden, but it was getting close to sundown, so we headed straight to the top tower to see the view. It was pretty high and we could see a long way in each direction. There are tons of rooms with Victorian style furniture, intricately carved wood trim, and even a piano that the boys took turns playing. We spent over an hour walking around looking into each room. Surprisingly, there was nothing to really hold you back from the exhibits. It was as if you lived in the castle. Many of the artifacts were something you'd see from the late 1800s in America, but it was interesting to see how a castle differed from the Pioneer homes we're used to touring. It was nearly dark by the the time we left around five o'clock.

The castle was gorgeous!

We climbed up a tiny winding staircase. 

The grounds were huge, and we wished we had time to explore outside. 

The view from the top of the castle was amazing. 

Dax loved the castle top! 

This staircase was really tiny. 

There was an old piano that all the boys took a turn playing.

The castle looked spectacular at night.

Finally, we checked into our hotel. It was getting late, so we set out to find a place to eat. This was pretty difficult since it was the Queen’s Birthday and, apparently, many restaurants close down on Monday nights in New Zealand. After much driving and walking, we finally ended up at McDonalds, which was about our last choice. We got to sleep much earlier, though, so everyone was much less grumpy the following day.