Don't worry, this post will not be as long as yesterday's, no need to make a coffee.
I had the best sleep last night. My drugs (legal) are keeping me awake at night so I have some zzzzz to catch up on. However we have been watching Breaking Bad using the iPad and it seems to do the trick and for the first time in 2 weeks I was asleep before 1am. Awake at 8 am and downstairs for a nice breakfast and a chat to our hosts Murray and Joy. Off we went to Larnoch Castle.
I have always wanted to visit this place and was not disappointed. Old William Larnoch took 16 years to build the castle. He brought up his kids there until they got the pip and all moved out. Probably because his wife died so he married her sister and then got the kids to sign an undisclosed document which ensured if she died it would all go back to him. No worries because she carked it and he got it all back and married a younger woman. Oh oh, the eldest son is having an affair with his new wife and William blows his brains out in the parliament buildings ( he has been rubbing shoulders with the likes of Richard Seddon and other prominent people). Don't feel bad because later on the traitor son ends up blowing his brains out as well. Should be a TV series I say. The castle has been restored and is a fabulous piece of NZ history, and the gardens were fantastic as well. I was walking through a pergola archway and a wood pigeon landed above me. Awesome. We had an obligatory scone with jam and cream and headed off to the albatross colony.
We didn't stay long enough to see any albatross, however the view was to die for with kelp several meters long anchored to the rocks and swirling around like Tangaroa's hair (Australian friends, Tangaroa is the god of the sea). We moved on before we got pooped on, not albatross but a million seagulls.
Lance bought a copper bracelet at the tourist shop, meant to help with arthritis. Watch this space, he feels better already.
On the quaint coastal road back we stopped at a caravan selling fish and chips. This was right next to the wharf where fishing boats were coming and going and we thought we were onto something good. The lady was from somewhere foreign, couldn't pick where. Her kid who by the look of his intact front teeth would be 5 or 6 was cheeky but cute. Fish, chips and homemade lemonade. Picture this, crispy and light batter clinging on to fresh white fish and chunky chips. Naaah, sorry, triangular Talleys frozen fish and pretty ordinary shoestring fries. Lemonade was nice. Setting was nice as well.
Off we went to the botanic gardens, quite a sacrifice for Lance as it is not something he would normally choose to do. But they were great, particularly the aviaries with an assortment of parrots. And when I say parrots, I mean parrots, like something from a pirates shoulder. Beautiful Macaw, cockatoo and our own kaka and kea. We walked around the top half and then drove to the bottom to the rose gardens which were really lovely. Well worth a look. A quick stop at the Cadbury Factory to see Dillon.
Off now to Baldwin St, the steepest residential street in the world. We had bought jaffas to roll from the top and everything. Alas when we got there we had a conundrum. Well a couple of conundrums really. First, would our little hire car get up to the top. Second, the sign said 'no exit' and 'no turning'. How on earth do you get back? Would we find loads of people stuck at the top who had been there all week trying not to break the law? So we ate the jaffas instead.
A beer in the centre of town the 'Octagon' and home for a rest. It is 30 degrees and that is hot for us.
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