Day 29 – At sea on the way to Sydney, Australia (Day 26 - Dunedin, NZ)
Those of you following closely will notice that I skipped Dunedin, NZ. On day 26 we stopped at the lovely town of Dunedin, NZ.  This is a town that Ingrid, Katherine and I had stopped at on our NZ-Australia cruise in 2013 and we really liked it.  In 2013 we toured the town and went to the Albatross breeding grounds on the peninsula. So this time Ingrid and I booked a tour to see the one castle in NZ, which lies just outside of Dunedin.  What a gem.  Jan and George booked the same tour so all four of us got to explore together this wonderfully restored castle. The stunning gardens with amazing wildflowers, beautiful woodwork everywhere and the amazing vistas from all over the castle were breathtaking. After a guided bus tour through the town and a short drive on winding, green, sheep-dotted, hilly roads to the castle we arrived to the sound of bagpipes! After a great tour by a very knowledgeable tour guide who told us the sad tales of the “castle” (suicides and financial ruin!), we were free to roam around the rooms and gardens. The weather turned beautiful and everywhere you looked the sun was streaming down on beautiful views and intricate detail within the castle. We even got to ascend the spiral staircase, straight up, (think – the top of St. Peter’s in Rome) to the one spire. Jan raised her arms in triumph upon arrival at the top of THOSE stairs!

After the castle tour we were dropped in the “octagon” in the center of Dunedin. A lovely spot with restaurants, shops which looked very familiar from our 2013 visit.  Ingrid and I remembered eating at the Craic Irish Tavern, so the four of us grabbed a table in the sun on the octagon and had Guinness and fish and chips at the Craic. What a lovely way to end the day in Dunedin.

Tomorrow it is on to Sydney to meet up with friends who live in Sydney that we met on a cruise in South America.




This was going to be our ride back to the ship, (what a hoot), but he was already booked.  Too bad.


When these are everywhere on the ship you know we are in for some rough seas!




Larnach Castle stairs of doom.

Jan triumphant at the top of the Larnach Castle stairs of doom.

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