Larnach's Farm AdvLab Bonus (Otago Peninsula) Mystery Cache

Explore William Larnach's Camp Estate farmstead, developed in the 1870's.

Be aware:
• NO ACCESS DURING LAMBING  1 August – 31 October each year. Waypoints 3, 4, and 5 are on the DCC Hereweka property. These waypoints and of course the final cache cannot be found during lambing.
• NO DOGS. Hereweka is a working sheep farm. Expect mud and sheep droppings.
• There are derelict structures and drop-offs around the farmstead. Take care. Supervise children carefully.
• The farmstead is an archaeological site (I44/412) and is fully protected.

Use the following URL to open the Larnach's Farm Adventure in the Adventure Lab® mobile app: https://adventurelab.page.link/NzKj

If you don't have a smartphone, you are very welcome to complete this bonus cache as a multi. Please contact the CO to arrange this.

Once you have completed all five LabCode waypoints, open the fifth journal entry to see the coordinates and hint for the final cache GC9Y551 Larnach's Farm AdvLab Bonus. 

William Larnach

Australian-born bank manager William Larnach (1833 – 1898) moved to Dunedin in 1867 with his family as Colonial Manager of the struggling Bank of Otago.

He initially prospered from land speculation, farming investments, the Guthrie & Larnach timber business (the largest trading company in Australasia in the 1870s) and many directorships. Larnach moved into politics in 1876, becoming Minister of Mines in 1886.

However Larnach's ventures were badly hit by the depression of the 1880s, and he suffered personal tragedies with the death of first wife Eliza in 1880, his second wife Mary in 1887 and his eldest daughter Kate in 1891.

Larnach took his own life in 1898. His family mausoleum is in the Northern Cemetery.

The Castle Estate

Most of Otago Peninsula was purchased from Kai Tahu  in 1844 as part of the New Zealand Company’s 400,000 acre Otago Block.  In 1863 the Otago Peninsula was surveyed into 50 acre blocks for farming.

Larnach's first choice of site to build his house was on the other side of the harbour - Martins Hill, at Upper Junction above NEV. The neighbouring farmer denied access to the Martins Hill site so Larnach then chose this remote spot on the undeveloped Peninsula far from town.

Larnach first bought land on the Peninsula in 1870 and built "one of the most magnificent private residences in New Zealand" (ODT 3 Feb 1875), nicknamed Larnach's Castle  by the locals.

The 1888 survey plan shows the scale of the estate. The house with numerous outbuildings is on the left, including the laundry beside Camp Road. The farmstead, managers house and workers accommodation building are down the farm roads on the right.

The land was covered in native bush (broadleaf, kowhai, matai, rimu, totara). Larnach paid local men to burn the bush and remove stumps at about £20 per acre. It was planted in turnips, potatoes, and oats for three years before it was laid down in pasture with imported rye grass, white clover and timothy. 

Larnach himself constructed some of the drystone boundary walls. He also pioneered the use of wire fencing, drilling totara posts to run fencing wire through – many totara posts still stand.

In 1881 Larnach’s Peninsula holdings were 1791 acres in total. The farm was 503 acres, with between 300 and 400 acres of arable land in crops and pasturage for sheep and cattle.

Larnach grew large quantities of fruit and vegetables, raised pigs and poultry, and he particularly loved draught horses and carriage horses. The farm made the estate fairly self-sufficient.

Larnach led the way in developing specialised dairying on the Peninsula and was proud of his herd of stud Alderney dairy cattle (Both Alderney and Jersey cows (OW 3 Aug 1888) – the name Alderney was used for any cattle exported from the Channel Islands.). The dairy business flourished and his spare bulls were sold for high prices. In 1876, he was elected the first president of the Agricultural and Pastoral Society.  

Following William Larnach's death in 1898, his son Douglas sold off parts of the estate to other local landowners. After WW1 dairying was no longer profitable, so farmers amalgamated and converted to sheep farming.

In 2008 the land was sold to the DCC. The Hereweka Harbour Cone Trust have developed a series of walking tracks through the land to allow public access to the heritage sites on the property.  To explore the Hereweka track network, see: DCC track map.

Waypoint 1.  Castle gateway, near the site of Larnach’s first farmstead

Larnach built a small cottage and substantial farm buildings on a terrace just below the present Castle gateway in 1870. Photo below taken about 1872.

Nicknamed “The Camp”, this cottage was a temporary weekend house for the Larnach family (living in town at that time) while the main house was built. 

When the family moved into the big house in  December 1874, the  “Old Homestead”  was used by the farm manager. 

For some unknown reason, after 1874 Larnach allowed this first farmstead to fall into disuse. He built a second farmstead on the steep eastern slope of the estate, out of sight of the house. The "Old Homestead" was relocated to this new farmstead.

There is no view of the Castle from the gateway – the plantation of native and exotic trees established by Larnach in a 40 yard wide belt around the Castle in the 1870s have now grown to their full height.

Waypoint 2. View of Laundry ruins from Camp Road

From Camp Road, you can look up the bank to view the ruins of the Castle Laundry.

The Laundry is on private property and the castle management do not allow access, so please only view from the road.

Five women were employed in the laundry. The main water supply came from a spring over a mile away, where a 70,000 gallon reservoir had been excavated, and the water was carried by 17” pipes to the house and grounds.   Rainwater, collected from the roof of the building, was used to rinse the delicate clothing. 

Next to the laundry was a flat area where washing was hung for drying.   The fireplaces were used for heating washing water, heating the flat-irons and airing linen on clothes horses. 

Today these ruins are Dunedin’s own Angkor Wat!

Waypoint 3. Site of accommodation building

Note: Hereweka is closed for lambing from 1 August to 31 October each year. There is no access to this waypoint during lambing.

Larnach’s house and the Camp Estate provided steady employment for many local people. Clearly a lot of work was required to excavate these wide farm roads, build retaining walls and level off the terraces for farm buildings. 

The flat terrace here is where Larnach built an accommodation building - for his farm workers or domestic servants. The Castle ballroom, built 1886, was on the original site of the domestic servants' living quarters so perhaps this was their replacement accommodation. From the 1888 survey plan (see photo above), it was maybe 20 m long - quite a large building.

There is no building here now, but the view is worth stopping to admire!

The yellow posts mark the farm road track from Smiths Creek to the farmstead. You can keep following this farm road around to the exit at the end of Camp Road, then walk back along Camp Road to your car.  See the Hereweka track network map. 

Waypoint 4. Cow byre

Note: Hereweka is closed for lambing from 1 August to 31 October each year. There is no access to this waypoint during lambing.

This 1880 cow byre is the only remaining building of Larnach’s farmstead.  In the 1960s photo, it is the building on the left.

As you see, this steading was "situated at an easy distance from the house, separated by the plantation belt". It "exhibits judgement in its construction" ODT 13 May 1882.

The farmstead had four buildings arranged in a compact square around a cobbled courtyard, to make the most of the limited space on this terrace.  All the buildings were constructed from timber felled on the estate, with board and batting cladding.

The original buildings were built in the mid 1870s, but were burnt to the ground in 1880 after a destructive fire that started in the hayloft above the stables (ODT 29 Sept 1880). There was an abundant supply of water, but the fire had got a firm hold. Fortunately the valuable Alderney cows and draught horses were saved. The damage was estimated at £2500 but the buildings were only insured for £500.

The cow byre, with hayloft above, has timbered stalls for 30 Alderney cows. The metal rings in the centre of the building would have been used to tether the back leg of a cow during milking.    

On the east, the stables (for the farm horses) and cart house building also had a hayloft.  Larnach kept Clydesdales for heavy dray work, and mules and oxen for the steep hill work.

A barn and farm implement stores were on the south.  The building on the western side had worker accommodation "comparing favourably with those in any part of the Colony” and included an entrance archway. 

Waypoint 5. Chimney of farm manager’s house

Note: Hereweka is closed for lambing from 1 August to 31 October each year. There is no access to this waypoint during lambing.

When Larnach built this second farmstead, sometime in the 1870s, he relocated the “Old Homestead” here.  An extension was added to make a larger home for the farm manager.

Nothing is left of this L-shaped building except the chimney and the concrete courtyard area. The photo above is the house in the 1960s.

Take a closer look at the chimney, with two fireplaces. Obviously one side was the kitchen, because it is fitted with a kitchen range produced in Dunedin by Barningham & Co

In late winter/early spring you will see primroses blooming under the trees - relicts of the house's flower garden.

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