Day 16 - Dunedin

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We arrived into the Port Chalmers this morning. The port has the typical shipyard containers and stacks of trees prepped from nearby logging operations. Port Chalmers is the closest point to dock for Dunedin.

Dunedin is the second largest city on the South Island of New Zealand and the principal city of the region of Otago. It is also New Zealand’s 5th largest city in terms of population.

We woke up and went upstairs to the Ocean Café. After eating breakfast, we boarded a shuttle bus into downtown Dunedin. The weather was again a mixture of rain and sunshine with a chill in the air.

Once we walked around downtown and gained our bearings, we were lead to the doors of the Cadbury World by the large purple chocolate silo. We scheduled a tour of the factory for 11:45 and had an hour to kill.

During that hour, we toured the Dunedin train station and walked around the exterior of the First Presbyterian Church of Dunedin. We also walked the streets and eventually back to the heavenly gates of Cadbury.

Upon our return to Cadbury World, we wore hairnets and had to remove all jewelry and potential breakable items prior to entry. This also prevented us from taking our cameras within the heavenly compound. We were told that any broken glass within the factory would shut the factory down. During the tour, we learned of the history of chocolate and the manufacturing process. The cocoa beans were imported from Asia, the sugar imported from Australia, and the milk came from the local cows in the lush countryside of New Zealand. At the time we toured, the factory was deep in the midst of creating a variety of eggs for Easter. They were also creating numerous other chocolate bars for distribution to the Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand.

Throughout the tour, we were treated to snack-sized bars. Kip got an extra candy bar for closing the doors as our group moved from section to section. Frank got an extra candy bar for getting liquid chocolate splashed on his leg inside the purple silo.

Once the tour was completed, we entered the gift shop where we learned that chocolate prices were drastically different at a chocolate factory versus the local convenience store. With this in mind, several pounds of chocolate were purchased.

Upon leaving Cadbury World, we ventured to a small brewery in a nearby neighborhood in hopes of taking in some more local flavors. Unfortunately the brewery was not set up to accommodate tours or tastings so we ventured back out on the streets of Dunedin.

We walked through the University of Otago on our way up to the Botanical Garden. The Botanical Garden is broken into half with the upper half up along a steep hillside. We trekked through the upper and lower half while admiring the many azaleas and roses that were in full bloom. We then began our journey back to the city’s octagon (city center) where we caught the shuttle bus back to the ship.

Upon our return to the ship, we again ate in the Metropolitan Restaurant with our regular tablemates. The dinners have been large and delicious. There is a lot to be said about having multiple courses served to you over the course of a two-hour dinner.

A long day of touring Dunedin led to a great night’s sleep.

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Photos

Frank at Cadbury World
Yummy!

Frank's Candy Stash!
Nice hairnet too!

Dunedin Botanica Gardin
Frank in the rain...with flowers galore!