Today we once again used the city bus to return to the center of Dunedin. I have to mention how polite everyone is on the bus. First, the bus drivers are very helpful and offer to give directions. When changing bus drivers, the new driver stands in front and says, "Good Morning, everyone!" When people leave the bus, both the passenger and the driver tell each other "Thank You." How refreshing!

We walked from the Octagon to Cadbury World for their Chocolate Tour and Visitor Center exhibits. The exhibits explained the history of the discovery of chocolate and early production. It was promoted as a healthy drink.  

For the tour we had to wear a hair net, remove all jewelry, and wear a glove if a ring couldn't be removed. We weren't allowed to use cameras; everything had to be left in a locker. I think the precautions were a wee bit excessive (everyone here says "wee" instead of little) because we were never very close to the chocolate making. Actually all we saw happening was the packaging of the candy, after it was wrapped. But we got some free samples and we purchased more chocolate in the store. It is very good chocolate, and we are now well supplied.

Then we went to Speight's Brewery for their tour; they didn't make us remove jewelry, we could use our cameras, and they gave lots of free samples at the end of the tour. Speight's has been making beer since 1876 on the same site, and they happen to be located right over a source of very pure well water. This reminded me of Coor's claim regarding the "Rocky Mountain Spring Water" used to make their beer.  

By the early 1890s Speight's had become the biggest brewery in NZ, and Speight's is still one of NZ's favorite beers. Speights Gold Medal Ale is the flagship beer, and has become synonymous with the "Southern Man" image -- sort of like the image of the Marlboro Man.

Our guide was a former HS history teacher from Canada and was very informative and entertaining. He explained the history of the company and the process used today. We went to the eighth floor as Speight's is a gravity-fed brewery, so the raw material is taken to the top floor and the finished beer is ready at the ground floor level. The steps of beer making include milling the malted barley, mixing the crushed malt with hot water in order to convert the starch from the malt to fermentable sugars, lauter, which is a filter to remove dissolved sugars (the wort) from the malt husks, boiling the wort with added hops in copper kettles, using a whirlpool to remove protein flocs, cooling the wort, fermentation using yeast, cold storage (layering) and a final filtration.  

Then we walked to the Dunedin Train Station, which was built in 1906. This building is reported to be the most photographed building in the Southern Hemisphere, which is understandable because it is so beautiful. It was designed by George Trout, who was afterwards known as "Gingerbread George." It has stained glass windows, Royal Doulton tiles, mosaics and brass fittings. It does look like a large Gingerbread house.