As you can see it rained most of today! We set off hoping it wouldn’t rain but a huge black cloud gradually came over the whole area and as I write it is raining cats and dogs!

We went to Larnach castle which was built high up overlooking the natural harbour inlet of Dunedin.

The man who lived there had 3 wives in succession. 1st one died suddenly, leaving him with 6 children so he married her sister, who his children disliked. After she died he married a younger lady also not approved of by his grown up children.

He killed himself in the New Zealand parliament buildings and his estate was left as a third to his wife and two thirds for his children. To cut a long story short after she died the family sold the estate and it eventually was left in a ruin. In the 1960s a young couple bought it and have spent their lives bringing it back to its former glory. Their son and wife now own it and their  2 children will continue the work. It is still being renovated and is very Victorian with some of the original furniture having been returned and bought back .

It was a very wet day but we did brave it and after touring the castle we walked round the gardens and grounds which are really beautiful. There are stunning views but sadly they were covered by dark clouds! We got quite wet!

We left the castle after lunch and headed up to the Royal Albatross breeding colony.

The exhibition was free and indoors… so we kept dry and warmed up there, watching videos of the albatross and blue penguins and the fur seals.

we are back at our hotel now and it is still pouring down. we think we have bad rain in UK, but NZ can compete and win hands down.

Here are some of the garden shots I took.

Love you all xx