Today we woke up to a grey day, so we decided to go to the Cadbury Factory. Today, or whenever this weekend, is a major(?) All Blacks game. I haven't been following the rugby in the slightest, not even online like I used too. But the shop windows around town, plus the beer tents that were installed at the Octagon was a dead give away that a game is being played this weekend at some point. It could even be on as I type this. Sabine was the one who told me they are facing Australia. I had no idea. Today though we had to be careful as the city is full of people coming over to watch the game, which boosts the tourism here. I would say the general populous of the city has increased massively these past few days because of it. It shows with the number of people on the streets plus getting stuck in traffic lights. Regardless, I phoned the Cadbury Factory to book an appointment for 12.30pm, then Sabine and I did a shop at Pac n Save.
After that we went to town and found that the Cadbury factory was booked right up until 1:15. On the streets there were quite a few Australians wearing their signature yellow shirts on, including those in the factory tour itself.
The frontage of Cadbury World was really well designed. The tour itself wasn't what I expected. At no point did we see a production line. At all times the rooms we went too were enclosed with only the external windows to other buildings being all you could 'see'. However the walls in each room were painted with information and even showed a video or two of how they make things. The most interesting part of the tour was watching a huge chocolate cascade happen right in front of us. If we got too close we could have been splashed by it. However it was 1 ton of liquid chocolate being poured into a hopper. Its on a cycle so it gets sent to the top, splashes down, then gets sent to the top again ready for the next tour. This liquid chocolate gets replaced once every month.
Another interesting moment was eating what they call the "crumb". Its like chocolate however its in its most basic form. It would sell really well if they market it, however Cadbury don't because 'if analysed by other companies, they can copy their trade secret from its ingredients' or some such bullshit. Hey hum. There was a liquid chocolate machine on tap which we could use to fill a small cup. very sickly. The tour guide was very happy to give away chocolate bars after visiting each room. Afterwards, Sabine and I had a hot chocolate in the cafe which tasted yummy. Well it would have been if we didn't eat so much of the stuff beforehand. I would say it was more like what I dub as Chocolate Hot. Sabine and I should go back there at some point when we can appreciate the flavour more. So, overall, all the free bits of the factory at the frontage; the shop, the exhibition and the cafe, were actually the best parts of the experience. But I'm still happy I did it.
The factory tour will continue after next year when Cadbury pull out of NZ. We got the impression it will actually improve the tour by incorporating another building. And as for the yearly Baldwin Street Jaffa Race, the guy said that next years will be the last ever. Not the one that happened last week. No doubt we will give that a miss next year also. lol.
Next, Sabine and I visited the Railway station. That was really nicely decorated. New Zealand knows how to build nice buildings. After that we visited the Chinese Garden. That was small but incredible. Its totally enclosed so you get the feeling that you are in a small corner of China. There is a pond with Chinese rocks and beautiful looking buildings, including a tea shop where Sabine and I had a pot of Chinese tea each. Mine was Honeysuckle tea. This was my highlight of today.
Sabine even tried on a gown with a hat which was funny.
We visited a few pet shops to get some things for the garden birds. We wanna attract the birds but they aren't coming down with the things we presently have for them. As for the kitties, we have the bowl of food inside the house now. Its by the open door so they physically need to enter the house to eat the bowl. But they know its there. They still don't like being touched.
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