A Castle

Monday, January 22

There were plenty of bleary eyed folk at brekkie but the mood was generally cheery. We were unharmed although, with the quick arrival of the fireys, I doubt there ever was any danger. Anyway, it hadn’t spoiled our holiday, not by a long shot and we had 2 more days to go and we were sure to enjoy these.

We piled on the coach on time at 8am and we were on our way around the bay and up into the hills to Larnach Castle. This joint was the home of one of the filthy rich Families of Dunedin in the latter half of the 1800’s. Whilst there, we were to enjoy a fully fledged High Tea. We felt very posh. I must admit that the "Castle" visit was not something I was enthusiastically anticipating but it was unexpectedly very good. I think the guide we had probably made it better than some would with her stories and anecdotes. We lost Ron somewhere

as we made our way to the top floor and I think Captain Grumpy was still a little tired from the fire incident. Sometimes, he can be just a little fragile.

Anyway, after the guide had finished taking us round, we settled in for some high tea. The peppermint tea seemed to perk Ron up. The scones and jam with cream, the club sandwiches (naturally with the crusts removed) and the shortbread were all delightful as was my English Breakfast Tea. One naturally sipped on one’s tea with the little finger poking out. It was all very English which made about 10 of our group feel at home. We did all enjoy it.

We then meandered through the magnificent gardens and some of the views from the gardens were well worth the effort. Ron, being a garden lover and curator of the Botanical Gardens in Kellyville, had recovered some of his good humour. He was really impressed with the horticultural display. We were all satisfied with our morning it seemed.

It was back to the George from there and a free afternoon. We found a bakery and had a Sanger just to top up our high tea. The serious part of the day then kicked in as we explored the retail area of

Dunedin. Now I am not a shopper but Ron makes me look like a shopping fanatic. He tired about half way through and called it quits and headed back for a NN. We persisted and all managed to contribute a little to the NZ economy. Nothing too extravagant. I managed to purchase another daggy sun hat with a strap that could go under my chin for golf and also for walking. It was 50% off so how could I possibly lose? There were mutterings along the lines of ‘there is a reason for it being 50% off” but I ignored these cheap shots. Better to have the head, ears and neck covered than look like Ryan Gosling and end up later having sunspots taken off. Ah, it was all in good fun.

With the shopping all done, we needed a spell before drinks and dinner. I managed a NN, but I have no idea what Lesley did, I was out like a light.

Dinner was again at the hotel and again, it was very good. The Steinlager Pures went down a treat and when we made our way to our rooms, I was fairly contented with my lot in life. Though Lesley was probably not looking forward to the chainsaw starting up.