Moeraki Boulders

These boulders are a wonder.  So interesting and amazing and just sitting on the beach all round and interesting.  They really are super cool and famous.  We weren't there very long, but were super glad we had stopped to see this amazing attraction.  I lectured the girls NOT to get wet!!  Trying to get us up on the rocks, I was helping Ava and got caught in the wave and so I was the one that walked away wet up to my shins.  Ughhh!

The Moeraki Boulders are geological marvels, exposed by erosion of sedimentary rocks laid down from 65 to 13 million years ago. They are formed by the gradual precipitation of calcite in mudstone over 4 million years. These spherical concretions are internationally significant for their scientific value and are a popular tourist attraction.

Like a giant Dinosaur egg cracking open!

I thing these look more like real "Round Rocks", rather than the Round Rock, Texas' round rock... Just sayin....

What a fun place and what an amazing 10 day whirlwind vacation.  We played super hard and slept little and we say more than we could have imagined.  Our eyes will never be the same and we will forever be "nature snobs" after seeing the South Island of New Zealand.  This must be Eden!!

Now.... back to Christchurch!!

Larnach Castle- Dunedin, New Zealand

February 24, 2017

After we left our great beach house, we headed toward Dunedin to see the Larnach Castle.  Here is some information about the castle:

New Zealand’s only Castle, built 1871 by William Larnach, merchant baron and politician, for his beloved first wife Eliza. It took more than 200 workmen three years to build the Castle shell and master European craftsmen spent a further 12 years embellishing the interior. Larnach spared no expense on his dream home, which features the finest materials from around the world.

The Castle is still privately owned and cared for by the Barker family who purchased it as their home in 1967. Decades have been spent on the Castle's restoration, with the family having restored empty buildings from ruin and assembled a large collection of original New Zealand period furniture and antiques. This living collection showcases the craftsmanship and spirit of New Zealand.
Open to the public throughout, this conservation project has been funded through admission fees. The family has always been committed to opening their home and sharing this significant period of Dunedin and New Zealand's history.

The drive up to the castle has sheep galore on the hillsides.  There are never a lack of sheep anywhere you drive where there is property in a town.

Ava in the Queen of Hearts chair

The grounds were beautiful and we enjoyed the gardens before we went inside the castle to tour.

Alyssa found the pretty old piano

The chandelier above had an interesting story.  It was powered by methane gas instead of candles because it was too hard to light that many candles that high up.  They collected animal feces (and eventually their own) to create methane and then ran a line into the house and directly to the chandelier.

Naughty Savannah kept sitting on the furniture, even though we weren't supposed to.  We had to threaten her with a smack down.

Such ornate woodwork all throughout.

Even up the staircase

A gown in the ladies dressing room.

Her vanity

The wedding dress of the 2nd wife.

Up on top of the tower.  There was a very small and windy staircase up to the top.

Great view of Dunedin bay

The nursery in the house

Beautiful Gazebo on the front garden lawn

We had a great visit to Larnach Castle.  No just one more stop as we head home to Christchurch (5 hour drive)

Ocean View House and Brighton Beach

The last night of our trip we stayed at a beach house along the East Coast of NZ just before the city of Dunedin.  We knew we would be tired from our long travels and would want a place to relax.  What better place to relax than on the beach.  It was amazing!  Up until this point we had little expectations for the houses we rented or the hotels we had booked.  We were very excited at how great the house was and how amazing the view was for this last house.  I could not have been better.  Our biggest regret was that we were only there for one night.  When we got there, we decided to just stay and play and not drive on into Dunedin to see what that city had to offer.  We were content to stay and play on the beach and we were especially excited that we didn't have to be out of the house until noon the next day.

A screen shot of where we were on the map...

Our Beach house was called "Ocean View" and boy was that a good name for it.

When we got there we quickly went down to the beach to check it out.  It was a beautiful beach with lots of flat sand and a good surf.  We were so excited. We were trying to decide whether to stay at the beach or go into the city.  They quickly decided to stay at the beach and chill.  They were tired of the car.  

Link to Ocean View Brighton Beach first glance video

The girls quickly got changed into their suits and headed for the surf.  It's amazing what they that they are so resilient and don't care at all what the temperature of the water is and if the wind is blowing.  Brady and I were cold and there was no way we were swimming.  We were just along for the beach view and ocean sounds.

Link to Brighton Beach first day 1 video

Link to Brighton Beach first day 2 video

Link to Brighton Beach first day 3 video

Kayla's drawing... surprise, it's a MERMAID!!

Dad and the girls did footprints in the sand... I didn't even know they took this cool picture until I started downloading pic to this blog.  I love it!!  Too bad, I'm not even in this picture.  Somehow, mom's don't get in most pics.

The next morning we got up and went down to the beach again.  The girls didn't wear their suits because we didn't want them getting all in and totally wet and sandy.  We had to leave by noon and didn't have time for showers again, which is essential after a beach visit with all the hair at our house. 

On the little sand trail down to the beach we met up with this friendly guy who had his very hairy dog and two kittens out for a walk.  He was very nice and let us pet his dog.  He even asked Kayla if she wanted to walk his dog the rest of the way down.  

The weather was beautiful that morning and we were in love with the sunshine and the surf.  We walked a long way down the beach in the surf looking for shells and things.  It was warmer and a lot less windy than the day before.

Kayla was very intrigued by the kelp stuff that had washed up on the beach.  I was surprised she would handle it because it was very slimy.  It was very thick and rubber like.  Interesting plant.

love this shot of Ava jumping the wave

19 1/2 years...  that's a long time honey!

HA!!  he'll kill me for putting this one in.  Oh well, he isn't reading my blog so he doesn't know.

love their silhouettes 

Alyssa was getting a large collection of seashells.  She had a plan to make a castle and us the shells to decorate it.  We had no sand toys so we were going to have to compromise.

Alyssa's Sand Castle video