19 October 2014 Sunday.
Our third beautiful Sunday in New Zealand. Expect to be warm and sunny.
After checked out from the hotel and we had breakfast at one of the outlet in George Street. We then proceeded to Botanic Garden. From the car park, we crossed a pond near the garden entrance.
Our first impression : very beautiful garden.
Our eyes were blinded momentarily by very bright RED colored flowers.
My wife love it so much.
On the grass patch with wagging duck mother and ducklings..
Strolling through the park…. there are flowered plants everywhere…vary from low scrubs to vegetation of several meters high… and some colored the green grass with fresh petals…
There are thousands of beautiful flowers… and we keep snapping.
The colors of trees…
Empty Branches stand out against the clear blue sky.
There are a lot of birds in the garden…
Managed to target on birds soaring high….
A small garden was named after Professor Clive Lister. Small pond surrounded by floral. There are definitely botanical significant – but it is beyond my understanding… so appreciate and enjoy the flowers and landscaping…
From Clive Lister Garden, we could see the another garden up the slope…
A close up… another Theme Section known as Rock Garden.
There are hundreds of floral varieties growing on rocks…
Our Pictures at Rock Garden
A little further up the slope of rock garden…we had a good overview of the entire Botanic garden.
We strolled downhill to the winter Garden…
Along the way… we could see families enjoying themselves…
So relax on the green…
children doing duck feeding and chasing after birds…
This is really kids world…
From Winder Garden, we took a ride to Rhododendron Dell.
Rhododendron Dell is another colorful section consists of colorful scrubs
Our pictures at Rhododendron Dell
It was 1400 hrs… we thought we would miss all the other destinations if we continued to linger in the Botanical Garden. Unwillingly we drove on to Larnach Castle. Based on internet research, this is the only castle in NZ.
The castle was sited on a high point of Otago Peninsula. a good number of nice buildings near the summit….
Viewing from summit…opposite bank, Portobello bank and the inland bay.
We stopped momentarily at Larnach castle and decided we did not have enough hours to explore the castle…. making our way down to Portobello Road.
Scenic Coastal Drive
We make a stop….admiring the estate. It is definitely relaxing to live here.
Pictures @ Portobello
1500 hrs, with the sun shining brightly…. it was sparkling water. This is really beautiful.
An hour drive… we were at Moeraki Boulders
Not too many people on the beach…. there are probably a hundred Moeraki Boulders
Various type of Moeraki Boulders…and one exceptional piece
Bursting out from Boulders…
while try to project bursting out… I accidentally noticed the layer in the boulder…probably scientist had clue of its formation from this piece.
Our pictures…
1700 hrs….we left Moeraki Boulders and make our way to Oamaru.
A stopover at the railway station…very clean and no sign of aged (even though it was dated 1900) and empty
The murals beside the train station look classic
Our pictures on the railway track…
The coastal view beyond the railway track.
We had dinner at this little Japanese Restaurant.
Surprisingly , the sushi and Sashimi were exceptionally good.
This last picture was taken from the garden of the restaurant.
End of Day 16 :The Dunedin Botanical Garden is one of the best I have ever come across. I recommend this garden to friends who is heading to NZ South Island and tell them they should not miss the site. Portobello is nice. Moeraki Boulder is one of the oldest stuff on planet earth (Scientist dated it at 60 millions years ago) that we make contact with… so wonderful. A nice evening at scenic but quiet Oamura.
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