How Much Farther?

We road tripped off to Dunedin after our tour on the water out to the Tasman Sea. More beautiful scenery. We landed at a great old (haunted) youth hostel and tucked in for the night. The city is not special in my mind, just larger than I like and more of a port town than charming city. It came highly recommended, so I tried to keep an open mind.

The youth hostel was an old brick building with many little hallways and nooks to explore. The TV room was in the basement down an old rickety staircase, and in another cubby for $10 you could rent the claw-foot bathtub/bathroom for a cozy soak complete with candles and bath salts. Our room had three walls of windows (not bad for a tiny room!) big fluffy doonas, which was good because we were cold! New Zealand's weather mirrors Oregon's, so we felt at home - and cold!

We toured the Cadbury Factory which awarded us with a pocketful each of Easter leftover chocolates. We fell in love with Jaffas, orange flavored M&Ms. Yum. Not fans of Pineapple Lumps. Is it the name? Well, they taste like banana, so that could be it, too. We were shown a silo that has been transformed into a tourist gimic. We climbed a staircase that circled a very very large vat. "Don't touch the railings, ladies and gentlemen, they are covered with chocolate." Picture Ross right now. Then, at the push of a button, the guide opened the vat and melted chocolate poured out into a trough below by the gallons, sure enough, spattering more onto the coated railings. It was then piped up back into the vat to be ready for the next tour. I foolishly asked (but I was sincere!) what this represented. The guide told me, "Nothing. We do it because we can!" Silly me.

Then we went on a sea lion and penguin hunt.