Day 217-219: Dunedin to Balclutha, New Zealand

Monday, August 31st

We had a great nights sleep with no sign of angry villagers, flaming torches or pitchforks. After breakfast we set off for Dunedin city centre. Just outside of Long Beach we saw a dead female possum lying in the road. It was sad, not just because they're so cute, but also because we could see her baby's legs sticking out of her pouch. Yeah, we know there are more than 70 million of them in NZ and they're a huge pest, but they're still cute.

Once in the city we found an internet shop to backup our pictures to DVD, then went in search of the Cadbury factory. There are guided tours through the factory and this place is probably as close as Talita could come to heaven on earth. We booked ourselves in for the 1pm tour, but had half an hour to kill so we walked to the train station. This building is said to be the second most photographed building in the world (we don't know what the first is, but we'd guess the White House).

Back at the factory we explored some of the history of Cadbury's. Once again there was tons of reading to be done so we kinda skimmed over most of the details. When the tour started in earnest we had to remove all jewelry, wear hair-nets (and in Ferdi's case, a beard-net), and put away all cameras and phones. We had a very entertaining tour guide who dispensed chocolate treats whenever a correct answer was given: Good dog! Woof woof!

We learned about the chocolate making process (plus all kinds of other useless trivia) and got to see the various areas where they make all those lovely treats. Inside one of the silos a ton of milk chocolate (literally) poured from a special dispenser. Talita was standing a bit too close and was splattered with a fine spray of chocolate. What more could a chocoholic dream off? That attraction serves no purpose other than to entertain tourists and chocoholics.

With the tour done and our bags full of complimentary chocolate we set off for the Otago National Museum where Talita wanted to go see the butterfly room. Outside the museum are a couple of big dishes set about 25m apart. If you whisper into one dish the person at the other can hear you perfectly, so we proceeded to quietly flirt with one another. Before we got to the butterflies we wandered around the museum. We just skimmed across the Maori and Pacific displays (we've seen tons of that stuff since coming to NZ). The butterfly room was heated to almost 29 degrees Celsius with about 70% humidity. It was a bit of a shock. There were a few butterflies around, but we enjoyed the little Chinese Painted Partridges more. There were also a couple of geckos, turtles and koi swimming around.

With our fill of chocolate, culture and butterflies, we left Dunedin for Balclutha to go visit uncle Graham and aunt Rose Langley. They are family on Talita's side and have lived in New Zealand for the last 20 years. They'd kindly invited us to stay with them for as long as we like. Balclutha's less than an hour’s drive from Dunedin so we were there in no time. We got a very warm welcome. This was the first time Ferdi met them and Talita hadn't seen them since she was a wee girl. We were showed to our room where a welcome gift of chocolate and a card were waiting on our bed.

Aunt Rose prepared a huge feast and their youngest son Dave came over for dinner. We opened the wine and cheese we'd bought in Blenheim and proceeded to enjoy a wonderful meal. The Langley's are such a kind and generous family. We felt right at home.

In the meantime, Ferdi had come down with the flu. Bringing disease into their home was hardly the kind of gift we wanted to bring to these kind folk. After enjoying the fire in the lovely warm living room we were taken on a tour of the house. Uncle Graham showed Ferdi his workshop/garage. Suspended from the roof were a large number of radio controlled aircraft. Needless to say, Ferdi was instantly intrigued. He'd always loved planes and had built a couple himself when he was a boy. Maybe one day he could take up the hobby again... After the tour we crawled into our warm, soft bed and were instantly asleep. It had been a busy day!

Today's highlights:
1. Cadbury's tour.
2. Arriving at the warm and welcome home of the New Zealand Langley's.

Tuesday, September 1st

For the first time in months we'd slept right through the night. Ferdi was still feeling thick with flu so he stayed in bed a while longer. For breakfast we had "Mielie pap" (a totally South African porridge made from corn). It's been more than a decade since we'd had that and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

This is the perfect place to recover from the flu. It's almost like being home with mom and dad. We spent the day in front of the fire watching movies (amongst others "The World's Fastest Indian", which we thoroughly enjoyed), being lazy blobs and recovering.

Aunt Rose prepared another feast for dinner and we met their eldest son Paul and his wife Jill. We enjoyed some more wine and great conversation. Later we sat enjoying the fire and a few nightcaps. By this time we were ready to move in permanently. We like it here!

Today's highlights:
1. Snug, lazy day indoors.

Wednesday, September 2nd

We slept late again and when we finally got out of bed it was raining and cold outside. Soon the rain turned to snow, then the sun came out again, then it rained again... The weather couldn't seem to make up its mind.

We spent the day indoors again, watched another movie, played guitar and just enjoying the fire. The weather was terrible, but inside it was nice and toasty.

After another feast and some more wine we spent the evening relaxing and chatting in front of the TV.

Today's highlights:
1. Another warm and cozy day with the Langley's.

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Part of trip: South East Asia and New Zealand

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