The Hillbilly Kiwi: Dunedin: Larnach Castle

As you travel the narrow ribbon-like roads higher into the hillside above Dunedin, the clusters of buildings and then houses give way to grazing land.

When you reach the top, you come to Larnach Castle. While it is touted as "New Zealand's only castle," it's never been used as a fortification or fortified house. I'd call it a folly really, as it was only built to LOOK like a castle.

It is, however, being lovingly restored by a family that took a chance on a dilapidated ruin, and chose to make it their life's work to save it.

Preservation and re-purposing are huge issues for me, so of course I applaud them profusely for their productivity.

In all seriousness though, they are doing a magnificent job, and are quite generous in sharing it with the public.

There are a series of gardens, each more beautiful than the last.

This. I am completely in love with the clever whimsy of whoever chose to place Alice next to the red roses, with the white roses in the background.

The lawns, as with most lawns in New Zealand, look more like putting greens.

Now, I need to talk about this structure for a minute, because I find it absolutely brilliantly fascinating. Disgusting, but fascinating. It is a Methane Plant.

Composed of 3 rooms, there is a small privy at either end where you would take care of your "business," and the center room was the production room. Basically, all waste would be "deposited" into a central collection tank underneath. Livestock manure was added too to give it an extra oomph. In the production room was a large glass sphere that was placed over an opening to the collection tank to collect the methane.

From there, the methane was piped back up to the house underground in copper tubing, and used to fuel the gas chandeliers. Pretty ingenious.

One of the open air cellars. This one happens to have a mischievous looking fellow lurking in the shadows. I'm rather fond of mischievous looking fellows lurking in the shadows.