Dunedin alternatively

After Queenstown we headed to Dunedin, a place we were keen to check out. I’ve been to Dunedin before, so we decided to do things a little bit differently, and do other things than I’d done here before. We stayed at Hogwartz, a hostel I’d stayed at before and really liked, so I thought it was a good option. We stayed in the Coach House, where we had our own room and facilities! It was modern, comfortable and spotlessly clean! Do recommend. We also had a walk around the city centre and did some touristy shopping. We both got the same New Zealand hoody that has become a favourite in both our wardrobes!

What was new for the both of us was the old Railway station. It was recommended to us, so we had a look. It was a lovely old building with mosaics, intricate details and original features. It’s a nice (and free!) thing to do in Dunedin. After the Railway station we also went to the Otago Settlers Museum, which was close by. I thought the museum was ok. It was interesting to see how life was way back when and how the area developed. It wasn’t the most amazing museum I’ve ever been to, though, but that’s ok. My favourite part was the huge block of pounamu (jade) near the entrance of the exhibit. I love pounamu, it might be my favourite stone.

And finally, we did a tour around Cadbury’s World. Since we visited, production has completely stopped in New Zealand and all production moved to Australia. Much to the dismay of locals, if I recall correctly. It’s a loss of a bunch of jobs after all. The tour around the factory was okay, not spectacular. We had some demonstrations, some tastings, but you don’t see real production going on. While I understand there are strict manufacturing protocols which prevents general people to get really up close and personal, the tour felt a bit like a tourist trap. A trick for the public. I’d read this in online reviews as well. Our guide was okay, she tried to be funny but English wasn’t her first language so the attempts at humour got lost in translation (and lost in the accent). She wasn’t funny, lol. After the tour, we ended u in the gift shop (of course, haha). We bought some chocolate, but nothing major. Whittaker’s chocolate is way better than Cadbury’s anyway! 😛