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A change of plans this morning.... I was taking the windy road through the catlins to see the cathedral caves and waterfalls and wildlife, but the weather has gotten worse, with roaring freezing winds and rain - not good hiking weather. I will take the state highway instead through farmland, and do the faster less scenic trip.
As the trip progressed I'm glad I didn't do the catkins drive as it rained the entire way. I stopped at Gore and stretched my legs by having a bit of a look at the shops. I didn't linger as it was a gusty 6 degrees. I had a chuckle when I saw they had renamed the stretch of highway between the towns of Gore and Clinton as presidents way. The only other stop I made was at another little town with an antiques store, and I now have a beautiful silver plated dessert cutlery set.
Once again I have been surprised by the size of dunedin, but like the city already. It has beautiful architecture and a hip buzzy vibe vs country bumpkin a bit down and out. First things first, I knew that today was my only opportunity to do the full factory tour of cadburys and I have been looking forward to doing this since I was a child. Stripped of jewellery and hair in a net, we followed our guide to see the production line spit out chocolate buds, snow drops and marshmallow Easter eggs. The samples were generous and included melted chocolate pots. Just for fun they have converted one of the storage silos into a chocolate fountain, and release 1 tonne of melted chocolate from a height!
After smelling chocolate for an hour, I was in desperate need of a nice lunch. I stumbled across baccus, on my list of recommended places, and ordered a light lunch of tomato fetta tart with salad with a side of jersey benne potatoes!
After a wick look in the shops I found my way to my B & B, an old restored house called bygone era, and I have a beautiful room filled with elegant antiques and the highest bed I will have ever slept in. The owner is a lovely woman called Angela who is very proud of her business and local knowledge. She sat down with me for an hour to explain things to do and recommended restaurants, and how the house and breakfast works over a cappuchino and homemade shortbread. I love the suburb, it is just outside the city centre and I have views of sheep from the front porch, and the hills behind the house are so steep that one of them is the worlds steepest.
To get a little more orientated with the city, I decide to go on an orientation tiki tour, and stop at a wild deserted beach to watch the giant gulls over on the jetstreams coming off the surf, then on to the beach suburb of st Clair which has beautiful homes and some well regarded restaurants. Tonight I am staying in the city centre area known as the octogon, and am eating at scotia, a Scottish restaurant that has a roaring fire going and flowing malt whisky, and I order the smoked beef burger. The burger is a huge juicy smoky patty on a deceptively small bun with beetroot relish and jarlsberg and is one of the best burgers I've ever eaten. The chips are handcutvand served in an oldfashioned paper cup.
I got a second wind and decided to go to the movies and see George clooney in the descendants.
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