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Trip Start Dec 04, 2005 Previous
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  Dunedin, New Zealand
Sunday, December 25, 2005

J: Hi! And Merry Christmas if you celebrate. We are currently in Dunedin where, surprise surprise, it is raining! Shocking, I know, but actually today felt like a perfectly normal Seattle winter day complete with a wet hike. But let me back up a little to Wanaka so that you get some narrative with the photos we posted.

In Wanaka we had a seven year-old's favorite day (or at least a day we both would have loved when seven), minus the hike we took first thing. But actually it was a very short, more like semi-strenuous walk than a true hike. It was beautiful. From the top of Mt. Iron we could see Lake Wanaka and I think another lake as well, lots and lots of mountains and the town of Wanaka (none of these photos are included, sorry). We then had a fantastic brunch at the cutest little organic cafe/grocer (yep, so good that later on we went back to buy a couple treats for the road)

Cinema Paradiso

.

Then came Puzzling World. Quite possibly one of the funnest places ever. It rates right up there with the City Museum in St. Louis and the Children's Museum in Boston...so much fun (M: And really, quite puzzling)!!! There is a giant maze that you have to find the four corner towers of and get back to the start. This started out pretty easy and we totally thought we were going to complete it under the normal timeframe, but we did get a little lost and had trouble getting back to the very beginning. Then there was the room of holograms and the one of illusions (which actually sort of made us both nauseous, M: even though we knew it was all mind-eye things, still, it was weird!). And then in the lobby area there were a number of tables set up with all sorts of different types of puzzles to try and solve. We could have been there for hours longer, but decided we needed to hit the local theater.

I know, you are thinking to yourselves, wait, what? Ditch the puzzles for a movie?? How very unlike us, right?! But here is the thing. This was quite possibly the coolest movie theater EVER! It was an old town hall converted to a cafe and theater. And the theater is filled with couches and squishy comfy chairs (yep, exactly what I usually hate about going to the theater, the uncomfortable seats, gone)

Defying Gravity

. Then, at half time (their term, not ours) they sell freshly baked DELICIOUS cookies (and they are huge)! Dad, you would have loved one of the ones we got, ginger with white chocolate chips--YUMMMM! Oh, yeah, we saw The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which was the other reason we decided to go while we were in Wanaka--the battle scene was shot there (or maybe right outside). Missy insists that the boy who plays Edmund looks like Eric Koretz (family friend) when he was little (KGB, let us know what you think if you see it). M: Just a note on the movie situation, I don't think we can highlight enough, how nice it is to watch a movie on the big screen from a squishy couch with a freshly baked cookie in your hand. Let's just say that we're lobbying for someone to start one in Seattle!

Overall it was one of the funnest days!

M: I absolutely agree. Plus it was only raining for part of the day!

The next day, we woke up really early to drive to Milford Sound. We were a little dubious of the weather because what is the point of going into National Fiordland (their spelling not ours) if you can't see anything? Luckily, the weather turned from cloudy to beautiful and allowed us to see the spectacular mountains as we approached

Driving the Cadbury Truck...to More Chocolate?

. Because of all of the rain, there were many, many, many thin, long waterfalls trickling down the rock faces. It was pretty incredible. The one unfun part of the drive was the tunnel that we had to drive through on the road into Milford Sound (scared me a LOT), but aside from that, glorious scenery led to a glorious boat ride around the fjord. Sun, seals, a far away viewing of dolphins, more waterfalls, the Tasman Sea - it was really spectacular. One funny/sad thing for me was on the way out of Milford Sound. I'm completely obsessed with the sheep. Seriously. I mean, they just look so fluffy and wooly and I really want to pet them. So, I saw one outside the fence by the side of the road. I pulled over to try to pet him, but he ran away and then all the sheep started bleating at me and Jessie laughed and laughed. I'm determined to pet one sheep before we leave here. (J: That is pretty much only going to happen if we meet a sheep farmer or go to a petting zoo. One very peculiar fact about here and sheep is that they don't have sheep cheese. I mean, honestly, how weird is that? They have more sheep than goats, cows, and people, but they don't make sheep cheese--it's just plain wrong.)

The next day we again woke up early, this time to head on to Dunedin. We wanted to make sure that we got in to the city in time to enjoy a few of its sights before everything closed for Christmas

Going on a Nature Walk

. We stopped to pick up some pies for the road, as they are on the list of New Zealand foods we had to try. And they are DELICIOUS! Kind of hard to explain - J? J: Well, I think the veggie one we had was like eating a pot-pie. It is pretty much just like mini pies that we would make, but savory instead of sweet, and the dough is a bit more flaky.

M: We got to Dunedin in plenty of time to go on the Cadbury tour. The tour itself was not so much because the factory was closed. We did get a few Cadbury samples and we saw a chocolate "waterfall" (not nearly as good as the Willy Wonka one), but the really cool part was in the self-guided section. The Cadbury family has a pretty strong history of being socially just and excellent employers. We couldn't believe how impressive their record was. (J: Right. This was definitely a highlight. They also have programs set up in the countries where they buy their cacao beans from to research and teach sustainable farming to the local farmers. Also, they didn't buy out the farms, but have left them to their owners in those countries.) So, bottom line: support Cadbury until someone tells you otherwise...and we gleckel on...

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

In the Sun in Milford Sound	It IS a Puzzling World	M Enjoying the Lovely Day and Boat Ride	Milford Sound
Missy is Just So Small!	Mmmmm Cadbury Bunny	Most Beautiful Waterfall Yet

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