Land of the Kiwis A runner in New Zealand

Day 23: Out of Place

Today we made our lethargic way to Christchurch where we'll stay the night before our debut track race. On the way we hit up two more attractions. Both were decidedly out of place.

First, was Larnach Castle, sticking out rather absurdly on the top of the farm ground that makes up much of the Dunedin peninsula. The price to get into the castle was absurd, calling for $25/person if you wanted to actually walk within the walls. However, the visit was Cary's idea and he was actually a lot more interested in the grounds and gardens for, you guessed it, the shrubberies. So all pictures are from the castle grounds. The unbelievable thing to me, was the number of people checking out this historic fixture.

For me, I couldn't help but marvel at the cookie-cutter life of William Larnach. You know, the one so many movies, books, parents, and pastors warn you about. Larnach had 200 people working for 3 years on his dream home and master European craftsmen spent 12 more years embellishing the interior. Basically, no expense was spared. Some of the stats on the castle are absurd. Yet! Larnach had 3 wives and 3 divorces before eventually killing himself at some parliament or something (I forget). Listen to this though, his kids let the castle go into ruin and it changed hands 2 more times, each time being refurbished for a brief period of time, before it was found, let me repeat that, FOUND!, completely abandoned in 1967, its main ballroom being used to pen sheep.... But damn, if I could buy a car here, then I'd REALLY be happy

Splintering Boulders

Moving on, we also stopped at a random beach that had nothing interesting but some surreally spherical rocks. I didn't hear about why they were that way, but they are. Some have some cool cracks in them that pretty closely resemble a soccer ball.

We got into Christchurch, carbo'd up, and got a twin room for some good uninterrupted sleep. Tomorrow, we race.

Oh, no running or training to mention today. Resting up for the race.