TEA, TURRETS AND TRADITION
26 FEBRUARY 2024
Please Ma'am, Is This New Zealand Or Australia?
A castle is not something you ever associate with New Zealand and it took me a whole 36 years of my life to find out that we have one in Dunedin! You think with being Scottish, I'd have some sort of 6th sense about these things... apparently not ;) New Zealand has a rich history that's filled with colonialism from Great Britain and this is obvious by the incredibly beautiful architecture you see in the region.
Of course, most of the churches are the most fancy pants of them all and it's hard for me not to yell STOOOOOOP while Lath is driving along, just so I can get a photo of the buildings. Luckily, most photos can just be taken from the passengers seat of the car as we stop outside the buildings for a gawp. Even Arabella and Sienna are impressed with them and if you have kids, you'll know that at a young age, most buildings are 'meh' to them.
While we were house sitting in Te Anau (a truly incredible place to visit!), we had another house-sitting opportunity come up 5 minutes away, just 4 days after our 1st one finished... and because we loved the area so much, there was no way we were turning down the opportunity to stay longer! We scoured Google Maps to decide where we'd head off to for those 4 days and we had a few options 1) Queenstown 2) The Catlins and 3) stay local in Te Anau or 4) Dunedin. We always love visiting Queenstown but it is very expensive and crazy busy, and there was a severely limited choice for accommodation in Dunedin (some sporting event was on) so we decided to see what options we had in The Catlins. We'd heard amazing things about the area but we'd never been before and decided, based on photos on Google, that we'd head there to check out the waterfalls and wildlife. I also reeeeally wanted to go to Dunedin ever since I found out you can have HIGH TEA IN A CASTLE!! I mean, why wouldn't you? So we made the detour from Te Anau to the Catlins, via Dunedin, so we could visit Larnach Castle.
The girls were SUPER excited when they found out that this was happening, especially Bella as she loves having high tea and dressing up and "being fancy", as she calls it.
As soon as we arrived at the gates of Larnach Castle, we were greeted by a really nice man who gave us a high-quality map and our tickets and in exchange, we gave him our pennies. We found a great deal on Book Me, where we paid $40 for all of us because the adults were $20 each and the kids were free, so that was awesome! We pulled into the parking lot and rugged up because it was cooooold, then made our way to the castle through a perfectly manicured hedge. As we got closer to the castle, we were captivated by the architecture and we took lots of photos of the girls on the steps of the castle, where they were being lions, like the statues either side of the stairs.
One of the things we LOVE LOVE LOVE about winter travel in New Zealand is that everything is so quiet!! It's not busy season and it's usually pretty cold (especially in the South Island) and we often have places to ourselves. On this particular day, I think we saw a total of 5 other people in the castle... how cool is that? No waiting for people to move so you can look at something or take a photo without a million other people in it.
The castle was built in the late 19th century and the grounds, castle and ballroom cafe are open to the public and there is even accommodation on site (not in the castle but on the grounds). The castle sits on 7 acres of gardens that were created by Margaret Barker, who is well known in New Zealand for her designs and has been a judge at the Ellerslie Flower Show in the past. There are a few different gardens around the grounds including the Lost Rock Garden, the Alice Lawn, the Laburnum Arch, the Green Room, the South Seas Garden, the Rain Forest and the Serpentine Walk. We visited in the middle of winter so there were no flowers in bloom but I can only imagine how incredible it looks in spring and summer!
We enjoyed the Alice Lawn, where there are statues representing Alice in Wonderland, like the white rabbit and a statue of Alice with golden hair. Did you know there is a reference to New Zealand in the Alice in Wonderland book? "I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth! How funny it’ll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downwards! The antipathies I think… but I shall have to ask them what the name of the country is, you know. Please Ma’am, is this New Zealand or Australia?"
Of course, most of the churches are the most fancy pants of them all and it's hard for me not to yell STOOOOOOP while Lath is driving along, just so I can get a photo of the buildings. Luckily, most photos can just be taken from the passengers seat of the car as we stop outside the buildings for a gawp. Even Arabella and Sienna are impressed with them and if you have kids, you'll know that at a young age, most buildings are 'meh' to them.
While we were house sitting in Te Anau (a truly incredible place to visit!), we had another house-sitting opportunity come up 5 minutes away, just 4 days after our 1st one finished... and because we loved the area so much, there was no way we were turning down the opportunity to stay longer! We scoured Google Maps to decide where we'd head off to for those 4 days and we had a few options 1) Queenstown 2) The Catlins and 3) stay local in Te Anau or 4) Dunedin. We always love visiting Queenstown but it is very expensive and crazy busy, and there was a severely limited choice for accommodation in Dunedin (some sporting event was on) so we decided to see what options we had in The Catlins. We'd heard amazing things about the area but we'd never been before and decided, based on photos on Google, that we'd head there to check out the waterfalls and wildlife. I also reeeeally wanted to go to Dunedin ever since I found out you can have HIGH TEA IN A CASTLE!! I mean, why wouldn't you? So we made the detour from Te Anau to the Catlins, via Dunedin, so we could visit Larnach Castle.
The girls were SUPER excited when they found out that this was happening, especially Bella as she loves having high tea and dressing up and "being fancy", as she calls it.
As soon as we arrived at the gates of Larnach Castle, we were greeted by a really nice man who gave us a high-quality map and our tickets and in exchange, we gave him our pennies. We found a great deal on Book Me, where we paid $40 for all of us because the adults were $20 each and the kids were free, so that was awesome! We pulled into the parking lot and rugged up because it was cooooold, then made our way to the castle through a perfectly manicured hedge. As we got closer to the castle, we were captivated by the architecture and we took lots of photos of the girls on the steps of the castle, where they were being lions, like the statues either side of the stairs.
One of the things we LOVE LOVE LOVE about winter travel in New Zealand is that everything is so quiet!! It's not busy season and it's usually pretty cold (especially in the South Island) and we often have places to ourselves. On this particular day, I think we saw a total of 5 other people in the castle... how cool is that? No waiting for people to move so you can look at something or take a photo without a million other people in it.
The castle was built in the late 19th century and the grounds, castle and ballroom cafe are open to the public and there is even accommodation on site (not in the castle but on the grounds). The castle sits on 7 acres of gardens that were created by Margaret Barker, who is well known in New Zealand for her designs and has been a judge at the Ellerslie Flower Show in the past. There are a few different gardens around the grounds including the Lost Rock Garden, the Alice Lawn, the Laburnum Arch, the Green Room, the South Seas Garden, the Rain Forest and the Serpentine Walk. We visited in the middle of winter so there were no flowers in bloom but I can only imagine how incredible it looks in spring and summer!
We enjoyed the Alice Lawn, where there are statues representing Alice in Wonderland, like the white rabbit and a statue of Alice with golden hair. Did you know there is a reference to New Zealand in the Alice in Wonderland book? "I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth! How funny it’ll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downwards! The antipathies I think… but I shall have to ask them what the name of the country is, you know. Please Ma’am, is this New Zealand or Australia?"
A wagon near the carpark
The Ballroom Cafe where we had high tea
Learning About The History Of Larnach Castle
We made our way up the stairs to the entrance of the castle, where we were greeted by another nice man who took our tickets and told us the best way to explore the castle. We went down a set of stairs and wandered around a room filled with information boards about the history of Larnach Castle. We didn't stay here too long as it's not always easy to stand and read for ages when the kids are wanting to keep exploring and get to high tea! To sum up the history of the castle, it was constructed in 1871 by William Larnach and it took 3 years and over 200 laborers to build the exterior and another 12 years to finish the interior with the finest materials from all over the world. It's currently owned by the Barker family, who acquired it in 1967 and who have spent decades restoring it and making it what it is today.
Everything on this floor was beautiful and included lots of plants, uniquely designed chairs which you can sit on, ornaments and a collection of rifles and other items on display. I think the most fun part for the girls on this floor was trying out all the different chairs, like Goldilocks!
Everything on this floor was beautiful and included lots of plants, uniquely designed chairs which you can sit on, ornaments and a collection of rifles and other items on display. I think the most fun part for the girls on this floor was trying out all the different chairs, like Goldilocks!
The Music Room
The Music Room is a large room with an orange and brown colour scheme, decorated with period furniture, a long tartan rug, art pieces and a beautiful glass cabinet that has a set of dinner plates in it which were gifted to William Larnach when he said "I do" for the third time.
There are 2 pianos in the room and one is available for the public to use, which the girls took turns playing us a soft melody while we wandered around the room, enjoying looking at the intricate details in the furniture - it was super impressive! We had the whole room to ourselves, so it was nice to enjoy the space on your own and even better being able to get photos without others in the way.
We noticed how perfectly positioned everything in the room was, how central the pot plants, chairs and desk were all positioned and in fact, it was like this throughout the whole castle... attention to detail at its finest!
There are 2 pianos in the room and one is available for the public to use, which the girls took turns playing us a soft melody while we wandered around the room, enjoying looking at the intricate details in the furniture - it was super impressive! We had the whole room to ourselves, so it was nice to enjoy the space on your own and even better being able to get photos without others in the way.
We noticed how perfectly positioned everything in the room was, how central the pot plants, chairs and desk were all positioned and in fact, it was like this throughout the whole castle... attention to detail at its finest!
The Dining Room And The Drawing Room
The Dining Room is one of the smaller and darker rooms in the castle (literally, not figuratively) and some of the main features are an 8-seater wooden table, a tiled fireplace and beautiful wooden paneling on the lower half of the wall. It's hard to imagine the room filled with people (possibly important dignitaries), candles, a roaring fire and delicious food in the 1800's. Back then, the size of the table reflected the social importance of communal meals and feasts, so with just an 8-seater table, one does wonder how socially important the Larnachs were. Each room in the castle is so different from the next and we thought the dining room roof looked like a set of drawers... can you see it?
The Drawing Room is a much lighter, with pastel green walls and curtains to match, this room is certainly very elegant and would have been a really nice place to 'receive' guests. In medieval and Renaissance times, castles often had multiple rooms serving specific functions, and the drawing room was where the lord or lady of the castle would 'receive' guests, hold meetings, play games and listen to music. The name "drawing room" itself is derived from the 16th-century term "withdrawing room," which was a room where people could withdraw or retreat for more private conversations (oh to be a fly on the wall here!). The rooms were typically quite luxurious, with comfortable chairs to lounge around on, luxurious ornaments and finishings as well as beautiful paintings and candelabras.
The Drawing Room is a much lighter, with pastel green walls and curtains to match, this room is certainly very elegant and would have been a really nice place to 'receive' guests. In medieval and Renaissance times, castles often had multiple rooms serving specific functions, and the drawing room was where the lord or lady of the castle would 'receive' guests, hold meetings, play games and listen to music. The name "drawing room" itself is derived from the 16th-century term "withdrawing room," which was a room where people could withdraw or retreat for more private conversations (oh to be a fly on the wall here!). The rooms were typically quite luxurious, with comfortable chairs to lounge around on, luxurious ornaments and finishings as well as beautiful paintings and candelabras.
The dining room
The dining room
The dining room
The Bedrooms
When I asked the girls what their favourite room in the castle was, apart from the Ballroom Cafe where we had high tea, Sienna said it was the bedroooms and Arabella said it was the Ballroom Cafe.... hmmm... I guess she REALLY loved it!
The bedrooms are located on the upper floors, so to get to them we had to climb a few flights of wooden stairs which were adorned with a beautiful red rug. As we were heading upstairs, we looked up and could see a beautiful roof 3 floors above us, painted in blues, whites and red - this was unexpected but a nice surprise!
The bedrooms were super interesting to walk around, to imagine what it was like back in the 1800's with this as your room and what you would have had in it. There were wash stands and baths and beautifully created wardrobes and nightstands, carved out of wood. There was a bath with taps and a flushing toilet in one of the rooms and I'm really confident those are some very new features ;) One of the rooms had a great view across the front yard of the castle, where the fountain stands, and a glimpse out to the ocean through the trees.
One thing we really appreciated about the castle, was how you felt like you could fully immerse yourself in the ambience of it all and it never felt restrictive or museum-like when you weren't allowed to touch something or sit on it. There were either very clean glass panels in place, or giant pinecones on a chair, or lace draped across something, which you knew meant "please don't touch". Even one of the pianos in the Music Room had a stool in front of it and a sign on the piano saying "please don't play me". I think it has been very well set up and makes it all the more worthwhile visiting.
The bedrooms are located on the upper floors, so to get to them we had to climb a few flights of wooden stairs which were adorned with a beautiful red rug. As we were heading upstairs, we looked up and could see a beautiful roof 3 floors above us, painted in blues, whites and red - this was unexpected but a nice surprise!
The bedrooms were super interesting to walk around, to imagine what it was like back in the 1800's with this as your room and what you would have had in it. There were wash stands and baths and beautifully created wardrobes and nightstands, carved out of wood. There was a bath with taps and a flushing toilet in one of the rooms and I'm really confident those are some very new features ;) One of the rooms had a great view across the front yard of the castle, where the fountain stands, and a glimpse out to the ocean through the trees.
One thing we really appreciated about the castle, was how you felt like you could fully immerse yourself in the ambience of it all and it never felt restrictive or museum-like when you weren't allowed to touch something or sit on it. There were either very clean glass panels in place, or giant pinecones on a chair, or lace draped across something, which you knew meant "please don't touch". Even one of the pianos in the Music Room had a stool in front of it and a sign on the piano saying "please don't play me". I think it has been very well set up and makes it all the more worthwhile visiting.
The Top Floor
The top floor has a small nursery, with a highchair, set of drawers, a small table and a golden birdcage. The floor on this level was quite wonky and there was a sign saying to watch your footing until they restore the area. I can't imagine how much time, money and effort goes in to restoring and maintaining a castle of this size!
We thought the design on this floor was quite random compared to the rest of the castle, with the unique design on the roof and the shape of the architraves. Nonetheless, it was still beautiful and I appreciated the bright colours and amount of light on this floor, after being in the darker rooms below.
The view from this floor was stunning and each room had a unique view around the castle. I even liked the tiny windows which looked out at the tiles of the room and although this wasn't a view to really talk about, I thought it was beautiful and added to the charm of the castle.
We thought the design on this floor was quite random compared to the rest of the castle, with the unique design on the roof and the shape of the architraves. Nonetheless, it was still beautiful and I appreciated the bright colours and amount of light on this floor, after being in the darker rooms below.
The view from this floor was stunning and each room had a unique view around the castle. I even liked the tiny windows which looked out at the tiles of the room and although this wasn't a view to really talk about, I thought it was beautiful and added to the charm of the castle.
The Tower
How cool is it that you can go up onto the roof of the castle? We were suuuper excited when we found out we could head on up there because castles are exciting and being at the top is even more exciting!
The concrete stairs up the tower are extremely narrow and steep but there is a handrail there to grip onto so you don't fall (hopefully). Near the top of the tower are some teeny tiny windows that give you a sneak preview of what to expect when you open the door and get out onto the roof.
Once we stepped out onto the roof, we ran to all four sides to see what we could see. Past the beautifully designed turrets, we could see out to the Otago Harbour, across the castle grounds, look down at the Ballroom Cafe and out to the Pacific Ocean. We didn't have the best weather on the day we visited and although it was overcast, we still had amazing views but I would love to visit again on a sunny day as the view would be 100 times better.
The concrete stairs up the tower are extremely narrow and steep but there is a handrail there to grip onto so you don't fall (hopefully). Near the top of the tower are some teeny tiny windows that give you a sneak preview of what to expect when you open the door and get out onto the roof.
Once we stepped out onto the roof, we ran to all four sides to see what we could see. Past the beautifully designed turrets, we could see out to the Otago Harbour, across the castle grounds, look down at the Ballroom Cafe and out to the Pacific Ocean. We didn't have the best weather on the day we visited and although it was overcast, we still had amazing views but I would love to visit again on a sunny day as the view would be 100 times better.
High Tea At Larnach Castle
We spent an hour and a half exploring the castle at a fast pace - we could definitely have spent a good 3 hours inside, taking our time and really taking in all the details and stories, but as we were heading to the Catlins and had an hour and a half drive ahead of us and we were booked in for high tea at 2pm, it was time to stop exploring and head on in to the Ballroom Cafe to be greedy guts and have a sugar overload!
We had been planning our trip to the castle for a while and we were all VERY excited to experience this inside a real castle! Arabella was probably the most excited as she is a baker at heart, always baking cupcakes, slices and muffins for us all and she loves setting up a table to look really pretty, with nice food, so this was her cup of tea (no pun intended) and we were really excited for her.
The Ballroom Cafe is a huge room with a very high ceiling and plenty of tables set up on each side of the room and there are chairs and tables outside too. It would be so beautiful to have the high tea out in the garden in summer and spring when the flowers are out and it's lovely and warm. Because it was winter, there were multiple open fires roaring inside and these were super toasty and it meant we were able to finally take off our multiple layers of clothing! We had a fire right beside our table which was sooo nice and it really added to the ambience. The only negative about the Ballroom Cafe is that you can't just turn up without paying to go on the grounds of the castle. This is such a shame as it would be so lovely to be able to just head on in any time, without paying an extra fee. If you're a Dunedin resident, you can get an annual pass to the castle which I think would be well worth it!
When we arrived at the cafe, we were shown to our table which was already set up for us - there were white napkins which had been folded into a crown (very fitting), floral china teacups and saucers and a menu filled with a mind-boggling list of teas! Seriously, we have never seen so many options of tea in our lives - we were very impressed! I wanted to order the orange spiced roobois tea as it is one of my favourites but unfortunately it was out of stock so I ordered a christmas spice tea which was a great choice as now it's one of my favourite teas that I drink regularly. Arabella and Sienna ordered a pot of earl grey tea and a jug of milk to go with it. Lath ordered a coffee as he isn't the biggest tea drinker and he wasn't having any high tea.
The cafe can cater for all sorts of allergies which is amazing and before I booked the high tea, I gave them a call to discuss what options were available. We have a few intolerances in our family, mainly with dairy, so I was contemplating getting a dairy free high tea but decided that it was only a small amount in the food so we would be ok. The lady I spoke with was so lovely and she explained all about the different types of food they offered and that there was no extra cost - they really do go above and beyond at Larnach Castle!
We ordered 2 portions of high tea between Arabella, Sienna and myself (as Lath wasn't having any) and it costs us $70NZD ($35 per portion) which turned out to be more food than we could eat and we had to take a doggy bag home! The food arrived not long after we sat down and it was displayed on a 3 tier stand.
We were served:
- Scones with cream & jam
- Profiteroles topped with chocolate and filled with custard
- Mini banana cupcakes with vanilla frosting
- Bacon and egg quiches with cranberry sauce
- Vege scones
- Meringues topped with fresh whipped cream and fruit
- An assortment of sandwiches with cream cheese and salmon, tomato and cream cheese, ham and cheese, cucumber and cream cheese
Oh boy, I'm getting hungry just writing this out!!!
We loved it so much that we've got a lot of high teas on our list around the world. If you have any worth visiting, then please let us know! The high tea was an awesome experience for us all that we often talk about and will remember forever.
We were stuffed full of delicious treats, hot tea and we were very happy! We didn't want to leave Larnach Castle but we had some new adventures awaiting us in the Caitlins.
We had been planning our trip to the castle for a while and we were all VERY excited to experience this inside a real castle! Arabella was probably the most excited as she is a baker at heart, always baking cupcakes, slices and muffins for us all and she loves setting up a table to look really pretty, with nice food, so this was her cup of tea (no pun intended) and we were really excited for her.
The Ballroom Cafe is a huge room with a very high ceiling and plenty of tables set up on each side of the room and there are chairs and tables outside too. It would be so beautiful to have the high tea out in the garden in summer and spring when the flowers are out and it's lovely and warm. Because it was winter, there were multiple open fires roaring inside and these were super toasty and it meant we were able to finally take off our multiple layers of clothing! We had a fire right beside our table which was sooo nice and it really added to the ambience. The only negative about the Ballroom Cafe is that you can't just turn up without paying to go on the grounds of the castle. This is such a shame as it would be so lovely to be able to just head on in any time, without paying an extra fee. If you're a Dunedin resident, you can get an annual pass to the castle which I think would be well worth it!
When we arrived at the cafe, we were shown to our table which was already set up for us - there were white napkins which had been folded into a crown (very fitting), floral china teacups and saucers and a menu filled with a mind-boggling list of teas! Seriously, we have never seen so many options of tea in our lives - we were very impressed! I wanted to order the orange spiced roobois tea as it is one of my favourites but unfortunately it was out of stock so I ordered a christmas spice tea which was a great choice as now it's one of my favourite teas that I drink regularly. Arabella and Sienna ordered a pot of earl grey tea and a jug of milk to go with it. Lath ordered a coffee as he isn't the biggest tea drinker and he wasn't having any high tea.
The cafe can cater for all sorts of allergies which is amazing and before I booked the high tea, I gave them a call to discuss what options were available. We have a few intolerances in our family, mainly with dairy, so I was contemplating getting a dairy free high tea but decided that it was only a small amount in the food so we would be ok. The lady I spoke with was so lovely and she explained all about the different types of food they offered and that there was no extra cost - they really do go above and beyond at Larnach Castle!
We ordered 2 portions of high tea between Arabella, Sienna and myself (as Lath wasn't having any) and it costs us $70NZD ($35 per portion) which turned out to be more food than we could eat and we had to take a doggy bag home! The food arrived not long after we sat down and it was displayed on a 3 tier stand.
We were served:
- Scones with cream & jam
- Profiteroles topped with chocolate and filled with custard
- Mini banana cupcakes with vanilla frosting
- Bacon and egg quiches with cranberry sauce
- Vege scones
- Meringues topped with fresh whipped cream and fruit
- An assortment of sandwiches with cream cheese and salmon, tomato and cream cheese, ham and cheese, cucumber and cream cheese
Oh boy, I'm getting hungry just writing this out!!!
We loved it so much that we've got a lot of high teas on our list around the world. If you have any worth visiting, then please let us know! The high tea was an awesome experience for us all that we often talk about and will remember forever.
We were stuffed full of delicious treats, hot tea and we were very happy! We didn't want to leave Larnach Castle but we had some new adventures awaiting us in the Caitlins.
Know Before You Go
- For more info, hours and prices click here
- To get to the Ballroom Cafe, you need to pay an entry fee to get into the castle grounds
- High tea at Larnach Castle is at 2pm each day and you need to book it in with 24 hours notice (possibly more in summer) and they do offer other food too, which you don't need to book in a table for
- The castle is set up like a museum but it's so much better are you can interact with so much stuff and sit on chairs etc
- Allow at least 2 hours to really explore the castle and grounds, we did it in 1.5 hours and it wasn't anywhere near long enough
- The tower steps to get to the roof are narrow and steep but so worth it for the views
- Winter at Larnach Castle can be a great time to visit as it's generally really quiet
How To Get To Larnach Castle In Dunedin
Larnach Castle sits on the Otago Peninsula, 15-minutes from Dunedin City in the South Island of New Zealand.
Click here for the location on Google Maps.
Click here for the location on Google Maps.
Conclusion
Where to begin to sum up our experience at Larnach Castle! We loved how immersive it was and how it was like a museum, but there was so much you could actually touch, sit on and pick up. The rooms had been displayed in such a way that it was pleasing on the eye and perfectly symmetrical. The high tea was an absolute highlight for us... there's just something about sitting in a castle, with a fire roaring beside you, eating delicious treats. The amount of tea available was astonishing! The staff were lovely and we were impressed with the high quality of the brochures, tickets and menus. This was one of the best experiences we have had in New Zealand and highly recommend checking it out and having high tea!
Gallery of Larnach Castle
Check out the rest of the awesomeness that didn't make it to the main blog but deserves to be shown.
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