Wednesday 13 February 2008

Dunedin - Cadbury Chocolate Factory Tour and Taieri Gorge Railway








Cadbury World




We booked ourselves on the 12pm tour shortly after eating a huge brunch at a nearby cafe. We decided not to do anything involving physical exertion because Stephen has a cold. Instead, we opted for a tour of the Cadbury Chocolate Factory and a train ride on the Taieri Gorge Railway.




The tour was really interesting, especially watching the various machines cooling, wrapping and boxing up all the chocolate. A chirpy guide in purple overalls led the tour and awarded people with chocolate bars when they answered questions correctly. We ended up with plastic bags full of chocolate to take on the train with us. The tour ended with a demonstration of the largest chocolate waterfall in the world. It was fun to watch as a ton of chocolate cascaded down into a huge vat below. I got splashed a bit with the chocolate, but it was worth it!

The photos of us in the hair nets are also from the Cadbury World tour. Alan got to wear a special snood to cover his facial hair....
At 2:30 we boarded an old-fashioned, wood-panelled train. The train took us through the Taieri Gorge. A guided pointed out various sights along the way. Construction on the railway began in 1879. Highlights included crossing the Wingatui Viaduct that was 47m above the Mullocky Stream and looking down into the gorge below betweent he tracks, the statue of a sheep dog that is a tribute to their role in New Zealand's history and the rugged, schist rock cliffs and overhangs...I think we were the youngest people on the tour, but we enjoyed it nevertheless. Stephen got some naptime in and I managed to catch up on my journal.

1 comment:

Wanda said...

The picture with the hair net and the snood is hilarious. I literally laughed out loud. (: