And then Larnach's Castle

After lunch at the Albatross Colony we headed back along the peninsula to Larnach's Castle.  Often, lately, that area of the peninsula has been in fog but today it was warm and clear.

We went for a wander through the gardens, which had a bit of an Alice in Wonderland theme

The South Seas garden was warm and sunny and had the best view.

Red Admiral on Astrantia

Eva had firm control of the map

Oh we're all just soooo exhausted!

We found the Red Queen's Throne, ideal for photos

the Lost Rock Garden

Quite a satisfactory adventure

Royal albatross colony visit

Our adventure for these holidays was a trip to the Taiaroa Head Albatross Colony.  It was a long but very beautiful drive right down the peninsula on a lovely sunny day.  The man who sold us our tickets was very kind and upgraded us for free so we could see the gun tunnels as well.  After a talk and a DVD about the history and wildlife of Taiaroa Head, we walked up the hill to the viewing house, to see 4 albatross chicks in their nests.

in the centre-top of this photo you can see Stewart Island shag nests, which are shaped like chimney pots

Armstrong RBL 6 inch disappearing gun

Old jail

 Semi-tame whitefaced heron which was hanging about the carpark, posing for photos

Bryony caught this shot of it flying away

Little blue penguins come up here in the evening

There's that heron again!

Just as we were leaving we saw an albatross flying circuits above us, it didn't look very big until we saw it fly past a harrier, which is a pretty big bird itself.  Everyone was glad we got to see one before we left.