DAY TWENTY ONE

A wet windy start to the day meant a cancellation of our planned cycle. Instead it was a drive into Timaru for coffee and a couple of shopping chores. Parked at beautiful Caroline Bay, (very generous free parking) and went walking, taking photos along the way.
The weather had settled so we were able to make a sandwich and a cuppa and sit under the trees to have lunch. A 15km drive south west brought us to the fascinating grade 2 listed historic Claremont Castle, where we have parked up for the night. We're enjoying the novelty of staying at a castle and learning its history. The first owner had it built for his new wife in 1884 of granite quaried on site. The nz government leased it for a while and one of our early governor generals lived here. Then the Catholic church bought it to use as a base to train nz and Australian priests, (there is an onsite chapel) and since then was used for some medical rehabilitation until bought by present owner about 19yrs ago. Quite an interesting history. It's used for weddings and other functions and is for sale now .Read more