New Zealand has one castle. Originally in our visit to New Zealand, a castle did not interest us too much. We have toured so many fantastic castles: in Great Britain’s, both ruins and restored ones like Stirling Castle; Neuschwanstein in Bavaria, and a few other of Mad King Ludwig’s creations; and even some grand castles in Poland, Croatia and Spain. New Zealand’s little one was bound to disappoint. Besides, one does not come to New Zealand for its castle; there is too much else to do unique to this country. We had some time however, and decided to visit this castle in style. A night in one of their lodge rooms and a manor-style dinner in the castle.
The castle is on the Otago Peninsula, a remote stretch of land jutting out into the ocean adjacent to Dunedin (“De-Need-in”). Dunedin was settled by Scots and means “New Edinburgh”. The City streets are laid out to mimic Edinburgh. As you would expect, Scottish influence is everywhere, making a castle there nearly inevitable. We arrived through mist, fog and rain on a curvy road at least 30 minutes from Dunedin. It is Winter here now, so unfortunately the gardens were not showing off their splendor.
We toured the castle interior on a self guided audio tape. The history of this castle is more tragedy and intrigue than anything else. And, oh by the way, it is said to be haunted. With some suspicious deaths and a few suicides, of course it is, with more than a few possible ghost identities. It is mostly a home disguised as a castle; only 5 bedrooms. In the 1800’s this would not have been a nice place to live, despite the grandeur of this home. The location is on top of the Otago Peninsula, exposed to wind and weather that originates in the Antarctic. The only thing going for it would have been the spectacular views.
We retired to our room after our audio tour to avoid the weather. Our room for the night was a quite ordinary, though spacious hotel room, in an outbuilding that was built recently for this purpose. We misunderstood that we would be sleeping in the castle, or at least a period building. Other lodging, hostel style with shared bathrooms, can be had in the converted stables. Either of these choices come at an exorbitant price, breakfast in the stables included. We did not realize until we woke up the next day that we had a corner room with a wrap around balcony and the most spectacular view of the bays and peninsula from two vantage points. The mist was still clearing whilst we were there, but on a better day, the sunrise would have been epic.
Supper in the castle was a nice affair. All guests seated around one table like would have been the case for entertaining in any castle. The menu was a surprise and we all ate the same thing. We enjoyed the four courses: pumpkin soup, beef short rib, venison and dessert. A very typical kiwi fare. Dinner company was good. We always enjoy good conversation with other travelers. The Tasman bubble (open travel between New Zealand and Australia) had just opened, so we had folks from Sydney in the party.
Next morning the weather was poised to clear, unfortunately we had a big day of travel with dentist appointment in the middle. We had to hurry through a nice breakfast earlier than the rest of the castle guests. Last time we were in Dunedin, we visited a dentist, so we decided to do so again. Trip to the dentist is overdue and it is a novelty for us nomads to see the same dentist. With no cavities and clean teeth, we are headed to our next destination – The Catlins