Dunedin, NZ
It was raining again today. You may be wondering the same thing we were — does it always rain in New Zealand? We’ve asked several people, and the answer is always the same: we’ve had unusual amounts of rain the past week (lucky us). However, we decided to make the most of it and do some indoor activities today. We splurged a little (both in terms of cash and calories) and went on 2 tours today.
Well this umbrella didn’t work!
Our first tour of choice was Cadbury World (you know . . . the company that makes those delicious creme eggs at Easter). Our mouths were watering at just the smell of chocolate when we walked in. We got a guided tour around the factory where we got to see the making and packaging of several Cadbury products. We’ve noticed that Cadbury sells many more types of products here in New Zealand than we have available to us in the US and we sure plan to try them during our time in NZ. Our favorite part about the tour was that they passed out full sized candy bars to take home with you!
A “Crunchie” display at Cadbury World in Dunedin
Raw cocoa beans for sampling at Cadbury World
Katie cracks open a cocoa bean
One of the old delivery trucks from Cadbury
Chocolate this way!
Tanks at Cadbury used for storing chocolate crumb
What a dilemma! Which one should I try first?!
Our second tour in Dunedin was the Speight’s Brewery Tour. Speight’s is a very popular beer in New Zealand, particulary in the south island. It’s slogan even touts that fact: “Speight’s, Pride of the South.” We learned about how the barrels were made, the brewing process, and even got to sample some of their local brews. We were in an unusually small tour group of only 4 people so we got a very intimate tour. It was fun to sit down and talk with the guide at the end of the tour in the tasting room.
At the Speight’s Brewery Tour
Huge wooden barrels kept the brew at the correct temperature
Left over yeast is used to produce a yeast spread called Marmite
Dan in front of the copper kettles
A model of a “cooper” who would make the wooden barrels
Katie pours a drink after the tour
Dan tries his hand at the bar
Hey Dan & Katie, It sounds like you guys are having fun exploring New Zeland so far! I am especially jealous of your trip to Cadbury world…mmm lots of chocolate,that’s right up my alley!