Cadburys, a Steep Street & Albatroi!

We arrived in Dunedin and our first stop was the Cadbury's factory! We decided to do the tour, which began with a self guided tour of the history of the cocoa bean and the development of chocolate. We went to see a short film about the Dunedin plant and were given a Cadburys Chocolate Fish to eat (chocolate covered marsh mellows).

We then went around the factory. We saw how they make chocolate buttons (like the opening scene from the original Charlie & the Chocolate Factory film), Moro bars (the Cadbury equivalent of Mars Bars) and Easter eggs. We were given some samples along the way which included a Pokenana (banana flavoured chocolate).

At the end of the tour, we got to see a tonne of Cadburys chocolate drop into a container which we could test to make sure it was chocolate! Then we went into the shop - Kate got a bit carried away with the Cadbury Dessert range (which they should import to the UK, especially the Fudge Brownie one!)

We dropped Helen & Ben off at their hostel and Kate & I went to St Leonards to stay with Ron & Nicky (who are friends with one of Kate's brothers) and their children Daniel & Abigail. It was great to be in a 'home' environment again and we were made to feel like part of the family. Daniel spent ages teaching me & Kate how to play his 'monsters in my pocket' game.

Once the children were in bed, Kate & I were taken on a tour of Dunedin, which included Baldwin Street - the steepest street in the world! Kate & I walked down a bit to try and get photos that do it justice and the walk back up was a good as a workout in the gym!

We then went to Signal Hill and got a great view of the city. We stayed there watching the sun go down before home (the temperature had also dropped and it was a little cold!)

The next day we met up with Helen & Ben and drove to the Royal Albatross Centre. Kate & I had been discussing what the plural of Albatross was and we'd decided that it should be Albatroi - it sounded better that Albatross! We had a brief lesson about Albatross and their life before heading out to see them. Currently they were nesting and we go to see 3 of them sitting on their nests.

We then drove around the headland to Allans Bay and saw some seals on the beach and some sea lions in the sea.

That afternoon, Kate & I went to the beach with Ron, Daniel, his mate Lennox and their neighbour Ted and their dog, Odd. The boys decided to play in the waves so we threw the Frisbee for Odd and kicked around a football. The fun part was trying to get the Frisbee back from Odd who was determined not to let go of it! The boys ended up totally soaked and decided to get themselves covered in sand as well! It was a fun afternoon!

That night the adults played a hard-fought game of Risk!, which carried on well into the night. It became very competitive and it was probably a good thing that a draw was called!