Another Dunedin Weekend

Last weekend, the Whitings and I took a little trip up to Dunedin to visit our friend, Martyn and Lynda Howells at their winter home:

Psych!  This is actually Larnach Castle - a luxurious old home steeped in as much scandal as grandeur. It was a fun way to spend part of a cold wintery day.

Fountains and symmetrical gardens are a nice touch to any house.

Home is where your lion and eagle statues guard your entryway.

Once inside, the stained glass was all the rage.

And I think there must have been other forms of rage in this house back in the day. Apparently the owner, clearly a wealthy dude, had quite the problem with wives. The first one and second one (sisters! conveniently the 'marriage to a dead sister's wife act' had just passed when wifey #1 died at age 38, and it was suddenly legal for him to marry her younger sister).  Then as fate would have it, Sister #2 ALSO died at age 38! spooky.  So along comes unrelated wife #3 - Constance. Well, you see Constance was much younger than Richy Rich, and karma just kept coming around for Richy as Constance traded him in for a younger model - Richy's SON!!!  

That sounded very creepy at first - the stepmom and the son hooking up- but it turns out they were actually age-appropriate and the rich dad was just a touch of a creeper.

As fate would have it, It was just all too much for Richy Rich, and he ultimately committed suicide.

and years later, I think that same son also committed suicide?

And like many tycoons of the era, finances were difficult for the family to maintain. When you build a lavish castle on top of a hill and import all the material from all over the world, money goes fast. A lot of money-shifting ensued. He transferred everything to his second wife?'s name at one point, then she died, and everything was willed to their children, so he forced them all to blindly sign documents, which actually said they had to give it all back. Dirty Dealins...

Anyway, back to the house. Scandal aside, they had pretty fancy taste in home designs.

For example, this ceiling took 6 years to hand carve. I'm sure that chandelier is worth a few bucks too.

This mosaic floor was a shout out to the initial settlement on the property they called The Camp.

Not sure where the cat theme came from. Cats were featured on that stained glass pic up there too.

Who doesn't love a giant sweeping staircase?

And here's where the self-guided tour got a little weird. This is in 'Constance's Boudoir'. All the other rooms are light and airy. This room had a dark black velvet curtain over the door that actually had 'Constance's Boudoir' printed on it. Then inside, the windows were all blocked out and there were weird mannequins.

See? Bizarre. Not sure what they were trying to say about Constance with this wild room. They did have her wedding dress there, and I have to say her waist was about as big around as my ankle. Apparently people wore corsets so tight they would have to use smelling salts to not pass out as they kept tightening them... I hope it was all worth it, Constance.

Across the hallway, out of the boudoir, this room had a great view of the harbor.

This tub is apparently modeled after a tub found in the ruins of Herculaneum, and weighs one ton.

This tub is also on about the third floor of this house, which is perched very high on the hills of Dunedin.

What I'm trying to say is that this tub was probably a lot more trouble than it was worth.

After climbing the tiny spiral staircase to the roof, you can get to the lookout tower and have commanding views of the peninsula and harbor. Easy to see why they chose this spot for a house.

Here's the rooftop view of the gardens.

Whitings on top of the castle.

And that concludes our tour of Larnach Castle!

The rest of the weekend consisted of a lot of eating, including some fajitas Lynda made us since she knows we miss Mexican food. she also got her hands on a pecan pie for us - made from a local bakery - the only place you can probably get a pecan pie for hundreds of miles. She acts like it was no big deal, but I've heard you basically have to go all Black Friday on people when the doors to this bakery open, so I can only assume she trampled at least a dozen people to get us that pie. And it was delicious.

We took a quick trip over the coast to watch the waves for a little bit.

We also played some games like Balderdash, Jenga, and Lightning Reaction. What's Lightning Reaction? Good question! It is only my new favorite game. there are four hand-held devices attached to a central unit that has a red flashing light and plays intense music. When the light changes from red to green, you have to press the button on your controller. The last one to press their button gets an electric shock!!! And if you press before the light changes, you get shocked and everyone else is safe! The interval for the light changing is always different, so the suspense is almost too much to bear, then you get shocked. It's awesome! I already bought it on Amazon and had it shipped to the Scherder residence back in New Hartford, MO. 

Sunday morning we made a quick visit over to a market, where we met New Zealand's best cheese salesperson. The cheese was good too, so he's really got a winning combination of a quality product and a good personality. I think he sells a lot of cheese. He sold us some, anyway.

And the market was held in the stadium where we went to watch the All Blacks Rugby Test several months back. It was fun to be down on the field.

And that just about sums up our weekend. The only thing I haven't covered is how great Martyn and Lynda have been to us - always checking in and keeping tabs on us. Thanks so much for everything, guys!

You're the best!

Bluffing. Flashback post to January.

Back in January, Aaron, Rebecca, and I went on a little day trip down to Bluff to go for a hike. It was a gamble with the weather, as it was showery everywhere, but we decided to make a break for it. Our steadfastness was rewarded with a fun hike with a few unexpected surprises.

Surprise 1: Nice Weather! We didn't even get rained on!

Surprise 2: Fancy toilet!

This little contraption has a sliding door, and it notifies you that you have a set amount of time to use the facilities. It plays a jazzy little song for your entertainment, and it has automated flushing and hand washing/drying features. 

As large and impressive as this giant chain is, it wasn't a surprise at all. This is part of a two-part sculpture that portrays a Maori legend that Stewart Island (home of the other half of the sculpture) is a rock, anchoring the fish stringer (the chain), which is connected to the fish (The South Island of NZ). Pictures of the other half are buried somewhere in the blog from our group Stewart Island trip from a while back. 

Surprise 3: Old WWII Military Bunkers!

The hills above Bluff were a key look-out point for enemy craft, and this bunker was one of the primary surveillance points for the Allied Forces in NZ.

Back in the day, the trees weren't in the way, and you could see to the ocean.

A little Peek-a-boo action.

This is a better idea of the look-out views.

Sneaky Kiwis! This building used to be disguised as a simple coastal house. The secret was that it had a giant cannon pointing through the window, ready to destroy anything suspicious.

The little house in the middle of this sign is the 'house' bunker.

Surprise 4: Fantails!

Many of the native NZ bird species are quite curious and tend to come investigate when you are in the bush. The Fantails are no exception. They aren't uncommon to see, but at one point we had over a dozen of these little guys flitting all around. Their flight is not exactly graceful, so it was fun to see so many of them fluttering around, chirping at us.

This one didn't want to show off his fan.

You may have already noticed that I am HOLDING THIS STICK WITH A BIRD ON IT! I tried to get one to land on my hand, but I guess I don't have that much of a Snow White touch. I was still pretty stoked to get it to land on that stick though.

Feeling good after our fantail encounter.

Whitings on the trail.

There were a lot of stairs involved at one point.

Surprise 5: once again, no surprise at all: the coastline is beautiful.

I think you'll have to agree.

I miss the warm weather! It was nice and sunny that day, and clearly warm enough for shorts. It's been very wintery lately, so no shorts and t-shirts these days... For that reason, we are all planning tropical detours on our way home from NZ!

Kelp forest at low tide. We just played and sat along this patch for a while, listening to the waves, soaking up the summer sun and ocean breezes.

Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

Thanks for the Memories!

This isn't actually a farewell post to NZ... yet. that will probably come. This post is actually to say thank you to Pip for these amazing paintings she has done for me!

Pip is a great painter, as I'm sure you'll agree. She asked if I would be interested in having her paint one of my photographs of a New Zealand highlight. Obviously I said yes, and set to the task of finding just the right photograph that would lend itself to becoming a painting. Once I had my short-list, we had a lunchtime meeting to narrow down the choices further, and Pip went away with the shorter short-list and surprised me with TWO of these outstanding works of art!

Her version of this photo of my buddy Dan when we hiked the humpridge track and climbed on top of that rock at sunset. It was a pretty amazing view and experience, now captured on canvas.

Here's the original photo:

I had a feeling she was going to do that one. She just seemed quite drawn to that photo. Plus she met Dan and they seemed like long-lost friends, so the whole thing just made sense.  

I did not anticipate that I was going to get a second bonus painting:

This is me and Evan at the Nugget Point Lighthouse in the Catlins region. She went for a more abstract approach with this one, and I think she took all the right risks. Orange ocean? yes, please. I went to this place with almost every group of visitors to NZ, and each trip was just as fun as the others.

Here's the original of this one: 

I think paintings of photographs are very tricky. It is virtually impossible to recreate the exact photograph, but they are also a way to recreate a moment in a new light, which I think Pip has done perfectly. Things that make photographs nice aren't necessarily the same things that make paintings nice, and luckily Pip has an eye for that sort of thing and instead of trying to do EXACT replicas, she used her artistic license to create a pair of fantastic souvenirs for me, and I couldn't be more thrilled with the outcome. 

Thanks for these memories, along with so many others, Pippy!!!

My Country, Tis of thee...

The Fourth of July is a special day for America, and like any good American would do in my circumstances, I was sure to make as big of a deal as possible out of it this holiday. As a true patriot, I felt it was necessary to start the celebrations a week in advance, and gradually rev up the in-yo-face factor throughout the week, culminating in a big party for all of my colleagues on July 5th... why the 5th? Because we don't get the day off on July 4th in NZ.  Despite my best efforts, July 4 is not a Federal Holiday in New Zealand. The plan for the party? American food, American decorations, American music, American trivia, Asian fireworks. and oh yea, everyone had to wear red, white, and blue.

As you've already seen on the blog, decorations started out subtly, but they also grew in intensity throughout the week.

I also had small flags in mine and Aaron's clinic room windows, This did receive an act of retaliation from a patient of mine who delivered me a very large All Blacks (NZ rugby team) flag to be displayed in my room. It's up, and it's staying. The American flags, however, ended up transferring to my house for the party because I just didn't think my place looked American enough without the two extra flags. See what you think:

I realized that my cabinets just needed some extra freedom.

Turns out my house already has quite a bit of red, white, and blue at baseline. I just had to spice it up with some streamers and Americana findings.

See? those two flags in the middle really tied the whole thing together. Would've been too boring without them!

 My wardrobe became more and more patriotic throughout the week as well. I started with just that American Flag beanie, then added the American flag scarf (both of which I bought here about 2 weeks ago!). Remember, it is winter here (don't let the green grass fool you), and has been pretty chilly lately, so my typical 4th of July tanktops and flipflops were replaced with beanies and scarves!

I also only wore red, white, and blue combinations for work Wednesday-Friday that week. and maybe a pin that had both an American and NZ flag on it... I'm not sure all of the patients or people at the grocery store quite knew the reason I was wearing so much American stuff... All they know is that I must really LOVE America. and I do.

With my house bursting with American Pride, it was time to get the party started. Guests started rolling in sporting their all-out Red/White/Blue get-ups. I have to say I was pretty impressed with their efforts!

Doug and Dulcie arrived in style.

Kerry and Curly also looked great.

Margaret wasn't sure what to wear, so she just MADE that shirt!

Me? Oh I just threw on this star-spangled fleece ONESIE I found in town!

side note, these things are incredibly warm. too warm...

The Whitings went for a more reserved approach, but let's take a closer look at that hat:

maybe it's not such a reserved look after all...

Natalie and Poss represented as well. I wish a had another picture of Natalie's outfit. Those sleeves were huge, and her pants were silky bell-bottoms. It was pretty amazing. 

Simon and Anita came decked out too. I was loving this level of participation.

Pippy and Sid showing off their American pride. Pretty impressive for a pair of Kiwis!

Food Time!!!

You can't talk about American food without mentioning Apple Pie. The snickerdoodles were a bonus. I was tempted to tell everyone they were called yankee doodles for the party, but held back. Most people who know me understand that restraint is definitely one of my strengths...  and I obviously didn't want the party to be too cliche or over-the-top.  That's just not my style...     : )

I love a good carry-in dinner.

The menu included Sloppy Joes (a first for the Kiwis), hotdogs, potato salad, deviled eggs, baked beans, corn on the cob, little smokies, and apple pie for the American components. We ended up with a lot more stuff too, like a chicken and vegetable pie, chicken drumsticks, veggie tray, cheesecake, meringues, and so much more. these people bring a lot of food to carry-ins! I think we only ate about 10% of the food. I know I gave it my best effort though.

(for future reference, I highly recommend onesies for Thanksgiving dinners because you don't even have to think about stretchy pants!!!)

Once the dinner was done, it was time to get down to the entertainment.

These three had a little dance party in the living room. 

And the cat was sure to come entertain as many people as possible.

But we were after more. 

We wanted FIRE!!!

Little did I know prior to this party planning was that you can only buy fireworks on one day of the year in New Zealand. That day is in November for Guy Fawkes Day - there was a post on it a while back. Luckily, Debbie  the receptionist out at the Nightcaps clinic came to our rescue, as did Simon and Anita. They all provided some awesome fireworks to make this an official 4th of July party. It wouldn't have been the same without the fireworks. 

Debbie wasn't even actually able to make it to the party, but sent some great fireworks for us, so that was really sweet.

This is what it's all about!

Bang!

Some party-goers came outside to watch the festivities.

and some watched from the windows!

And some apparently also watched from the squash club across town where someone was having some kind of party! We could hear a few cheers, and I got a facebook message about it later!

We were just glad the fire marshal wasn't also watching.

We shot these off right in my backyard, and it was so great not having to feel like everything was going to catch on fire any second. Usually it is so hot and dry back home that we sometimes couldn't even shoot our fireworks for fear of the field catching on fire. Here, it has been raining everyday, including most of the day before the party, so the fire risk was about 0%.

Back inside, the party continued:

Dulcie went all out. I now feel like Americans need to pick up their game at the whole July 4th attire.

See? All. Out.

the Fellas.

And then it was quiz time!

 I put together 4 quizzes to be taken at the party, and the person getting the most right answers on each quiz would win an American--themed prize. People could fill them out at their leisure, then I graded them and we had our prize-giving.

This may have been the hardest one. 

but Pip came away with it with her lucky guess as to the location of the Grand Canyon. It was in exactly the right place. So her single correct answer was the highest score of the whole group! She won that patriotic scarf combo!

This one was all about naming 10 famous American cultural icons, past and present. They all did really well with this one, but the knowledge of Amelia Earhart is what gave Sid the big win. (of note, everyone thought Mark Twain was Albert Einstein, which is pretty understandable now that I think about it)

He won some red/white/blue socks!

Quiz #3: identify this list of 10 states. 

and again, Pippy got the high score with 1 out of 10! Luckily she knew where Missouri is! I would have been offended if NO ONE knew. There is a US map at the clinic with marks of where all their doctors have come from!

Pip won the movie "Independence Day" for this victory.

The Egerton's really cleaned house!

But they didn't get quiz 4. This one went to Curly! but I'll share a lot of their answers because I think you'll find it ...interesting... (entertaining!) what comes to mind for non-Americans when they are asked questions about American History. Things that we learn from first grade all the way through school are never taught here (which is fair... but it was fun to see people guessing at what feel like some of the most basic facts about America. I would be as bad or worse if it were a NZ quiz given back to me, just to be clear.)

The Quiz

The responses:

And here's the champ with his new copy of the film "Born on the 4th of July", which happens to be in a 2-movie combo with 'A Few Good Men". 

All in all, it was a 4th of July party for the ages. Definitely one I won't forget. Thanks to everybody who helped me go all out.