Hearts, crafts and chocolate!

Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009

Happy V-day all! Today was our last port of call on the south island of NZ, Dunedin (pronounced Dun- EEEE-din). Dunedin is a beautiful little Scottish influenced town. Most of the early settlers were stone masons from Scotland, hence the phenomenal stone architecture on many of the 200 year old original buildings (railway station, court house, jail, city hall, etc.) and the resounding echo’s of bagpipes playing in the streets. It was a perfect summer day in my opinion – the sun was out and the blue sky was dotted with fluffy white puffs of cloud. Temperature was a refreshing 20 degrees. We started our Valentine day with a tour of the original Cadbury Chocolate Factory – started here in NZ. Can you think of any better way to celebrate V-day than be surrounded by chocolate? Ya baby ... it was sweet! Our tour guide definitely made the experience very Willy Wonkaish. I think she enjoyed her job just a little too much as she devilishly tempted us with chocolate when we gave the correct answer to her questions. Her eyes never stopped twinkling and a slight smirk was ever present on her face. Though she encouraged questions from our group, she was quick to not reveal too much information about the secrets of Cadbury – apparently, this is a highly competitive industry! Our blind obedience to her sometimes “drill sergeant” directions enabled us to enjoy a 1000 foot chocolate waterfall, a step-by-step “how do they do that” DVD on the making of our favourite chocolate bars and enough free samples of miniature chocolate bars to satisfy our cravings from now until .... well ... at least tomorrow. Dawn, if you are reading this ... I know you are drooling girl!
Our next stop in a jam-packed day of activities included LOTS of local flavour. As luck would have it, Dunedin was celebrating a yearly one-day festival called “Thieves Alley”. This festival basically involved the blocking off of the centre of town and lining the connecting streets with entertainers, booths of local Kiwi artisans and flavourful aromas of NZ delicacies both sweet and savoury. Jewellery, metal works, knitting, glass art, paintings, photography, pottery, soaps, jams/jellies, wood crafts, plants, and flea market treasures covered every inch of the sidewalks for miles and a steady sea of people moved curiously between them. A real treat to engage in this NZ delight. After we had enough exposure to the crush of people and festivities, we headed down around the corner to a museum that told the story of the early settlers in Dunedin. Fascinating, pioneering, industrious spirit of those early Scots and later the Chinese (trying to earn some quick cash in the gold rush). Both were pivotal in the shaping of modern day Dunedin and their footprints can be found everywhere in the city. One of the most relaxing and refreshing visits we enjoyed was our last stop of our day. It was to a beautiful, peaceful, 3000 square meter Chinese garden tucked away just past the centre of town. Waterfalls, rocks, bridges, ponds, tropical greenery all added to the very Zen feeling of this mini oasis. A perfect respite before heading back to the ship.

Dunedin will be remembered as a colourful, small town full of life, rich history and bagpipes!

Things I learned today:

1. I now know how they get the caramel in the Caramilk bar ... but you know how it goes, I’d have to kill you if I told you the secret!
2. I’d suck at being a pioneer
3. Rock and roll takes on a new meaning when you’re on a ship