Dunedin - a city for all tastes

Another foggy morning, but by 9:30 am the sun is burning it off.  We are high on a hill with the Catholic Church directly opposite- funny about that - the Mick's always seemed to manage to snaffle the best high spots in towns - perhaps 'nearer my god to thee?!!

First stop of the day - Cadbury World!  Our guide for the morning is Christie who is definitely on some kind of upper.  For the sixteen of us she is hyped and happy and high on chocolate.  Everything she says and does has a bubbly 'high five' feel about it.  She leads us through the process of turning cacao to cocoa and then to chocolate including filling our goody bags with all things chocolate. We go through the 'breakfast room' where we can help ourselves to liquid chocolate, adding such things as pretzels, coconut, sprinkles, popcorn and oreo bits. Not really my idea of breakfast but for some of them - wow!

We climb halfway up one of the storage silos (the purple one) and watch one tonne of liquid chocolate fall from a height further up down to the base of the silo!


Near the end of the tour we learn that the factory in Dunedin will close in three months.  I wonder whether this will be her downer?  But no, she is very philosophical about it.

After finishing our visit to the Chocolate caverns with a coffee, we set out to find some of the amazing Street Art that Dunedin is known for.  

We find the first dozen or so pieces and then realise that we are within a cooee of the Chinese Garden and take a detour from the hot summer sun into the serene coolness of the garden.  This is a sanctuary in the city - a green space in the concrete and brick and bitumen!

As we move through the gardens with the wind moving through the willow trees, we spy the Tea House and sit down for a Rose tea (Michael) and a peppermint tea for me.  Coupled them with a selection of buns and dumplings - just a very light snack.  The teas were just what we needed!

From here we head over to the stunning Dunedin Railway Station that everyone had told us to make sure we checked out. This building is a homage to a bygone era of grace and beauty.  

The entire main entrance is tiled, from the small mosaic tiles on the floor to amazing vitreous ceramic tiles on the walls.  There are 3D tile surrounds to the ticket windows and across the top of the ground floor under the mezzanine floor with its cast iron balustrade and stunning stained glass windows.  

Designed by George Troup and opened in 1906, it demonstrates a commitment to quality and pride in workmanship - stunningly beautiful, there are no other words to use.

We visit the Art exhibition upstairs where we have missed out on buying a Green Man art piece (but I have a contact for the artist) and buy a stunning had painted silk scarf for half the price of any other one we have seen in NZ!  Winner!

As the day is closing fast, we head to Toitu - Otago Settlers Museum.  Sited between the railway and the Chinese Garden in a re-purposed warehouse with a stunning new entry building added.  

The people of NZ know how to do a museum.  The layout, the connections and the collections are stunning with enough hands on and interactive displays that mean that the non-touch displays are easily protected. We end up with only about 90 minutes to explore a space that you could spend a day in.  

There are lots of story-telling from the Maori, white settlers and the Chinese perspectives.  The displays take you from the arrival of the Polynesians right through to the new technologies of today and everything in between.

After the Museum closes at 5 pm, we hit the streets to find some more examples of the street art before we stop for some early dinner at a pub chain CBK where I was offered a Plum Cider by Stuart - wasn't too sure I would like it, so he gave me a tot to taste.  Man - move over apple - this Plum Cider by Good George Brewing has plenty of tart and plenty of flavour and none of the over-sweetness of many of the new fruit ciders.

 Michael has a Seafood Chowder and I settle in with Steamed Bao Buns - one each with smoked beef, fish and spicy chicken. Delish.  And Stuart has given us the premium address to view Dunedin from on high for a great view day and night - we'll check it out tomorrow.

And as we arrive back at our accommodation, something wicked this way comes - another sea fog is creeping very quickly, very silently in from the coast. 

An unexpected link to Maryborough

Again we sleep longer than we originally planned - one of the perks of being on holidays and in a fab bed!  We had planned to get up at 7:30 am, but Michael has set the alarm for 8:30 - ha ha ha - he never was a morning person!

A quick goodbye to Scooter just after 9:30 sees us head in to spend the morning giving Arrowtown some serious attention.  Scooter is originally from Europe and even she comments on the cost of living here. She and Grant have a small cottage that they are busily renovating and remodelling. Today she says it is valued at $1.4 million. And it is small - two bedrooms only. The airbnb room that we occupied is in a new built in area under the house.

Dating back to the mid 1800s, its main street is filled with the small original stores that graced it in its heydays when gold was being mined.  All of them re-purposed now of course. But still quaint and very twee.


We're off to 'Provisions of Arrowtown' a purveyor of all things local and foodie for breakfast.  Michael orders the big breakfast (of course), while I choose the Buckwheat Pancakes with grilled banana, blueberries and marscapone. And coffees of course. Those pancakes were as light as clouds and Michael's 3 eggs were poached to perfection. We are sitting in a back room, overlooking a Quince tree laden with growing fruits.


Once sated, we amble up the main street, stopping in at most of the shops. Some are surprisingly affordable, others not so - some of the merchants are really trying to make the most out of the many Chinese visiting the area.  And then we pause outside the local Sotheby's office (sure that gives you a hint!).  This property was the cheapest in their window! 

There are gold, jewellery, clothing, woollen goods, souvenirs, artworks shop that are interspersed with lots of eateries all doing a roaring trade.  The really noticeable thing here is that everyone from the young ladies in the Visitor Information Centre, to the sales staff in the shops and the wait staff all treat their visitors with open willing friendliness, whether you are buying or browsing. It is really noticeable and contributes to a wonderful warm feeling all through town. And because everyone is so friendly, all the visitors and smiling. And spending!!  If only we could bottle it and shake it all over home.

Arrowtown had its birth in the 1860s when the push to mine gold from the Arrow River was at its peak.  The original buildings in the main street have continued to evolve into the retail and service offerings of today.  And just like in Australia, where there was gold, came the Chinese.  The first orientals in the area didn't assimilate and created their own little village in the back streets towards the river and much to the annoyance of the European traders, the Chinese even set up their own shops.

Once the gold mining stopped being commercial, the town faded into the backdrop, meaning that there are still more than 70 historic sites remaining. In the 1950s there was a resurgence of interest in the area as a holiday destination. It is less than an hour to the summer friendly Lake Wanaka and even closer to the winter ski fields.

We were lucky to be wandering around today as the local farmers market was on in the local park. Cheeses, salmon, cured meats, fresh fruits, baked goodies - a foodies heaven. But we were also unlucky. We were putting some purchases in the car when I put the keys down to move a bottle of water. Promptly shut the boot and the car automatically locked. With the keys still inside.  A bad design flaw in the Ford Focus if you ask me. An hour later and $160 poorer, the local AA man has us back in the car.


And now to the link with Maryborough.  Sister (now Saint) Mary McKillop came to Arrowtown 20 years after she had set up the first catholic school in Maryborough, where she also set up a school for the local children.  Funny the things that link us across the waters, isn't it.

And locally, Irene S and Ann C both asked whether the lolly shop still exists.  We can happily report that yes it does, and it is still doing a roaring trade of old favourites and new offerings.

It is now early afternoon and we hit the road to head for Queenstown - about 25 minutes away.  And while the day was a cool summer day in Arrowtown, as we get closer to Queenstown, the weather also is closing in with lots of clouds again rolling down the mountainsides.  Donna had said that one of the must does here is the Gondola to the top of Bob's Peak.  St Frances is with us again as we get a car park about 100 m from the entry as another can pulls out.  The rain is beginning as we leave the car.  We manage to get into our gondola and up the mountain in just very light rain, so get one reasonable photo on our way up the VERTICAL mountain.  But by the time we peak out at the top, the rain has set in. 

We sit with coffees and wonder at the sanity of people who race the luges in the rain, but even more so, to the mountain bike riders who pay up to $900 for an annual pass to ride the gondolas up just to plunge down the mountain side - the very steep mountain side - even in the rain, and as we are told later, even in the snow!

We hang around for an hour or so hoping for clearer weather, but it is not to be, so we head back to ground zero thinking we might catch a movie - but can't find the cinema, so we head for Mossburn for the night.  A couple of reasons we chose here - it is on the road to Te Anua and Milford Sound, and it happened to have a vacancy - many places are still fully booked. The entire drive along what must be stunning scenery with towering hills and deep gorges along the length of Lake Wakatipu. Today however, through the veil of water they are merely shadows and outlines.  Not fair.

And finally I am gobsmacked at the large number of sheep (and cattle) that they farm per hectare here. Without a word of a lie, there were about 1,000 sheep on a 3 - 4 hectare block.  The rain isn't worrying them, what with their greasy wool coats.  The cattle on the other hand huddle in tight lines at the most protected parts of their paddocks - hides are not so waterproof!

We pull in to the carpark at the Mossburn Railway Hotel to check in and have dinner just before 7pm.  The rain continues and the temperature has plummeted.  The hotel is dry and warm with a roaring fire going. Drinks and dinner ordered and done, we head across the road to their new accommodation units - Wheels and Reels. 
My crumbed Blue Cod was delicious and Michael loved his Fisherman's Basket complete with mussels and scallops!

There is or was another link with home here - up until the 1970s there was a combined rail and road bridge over the Oreti River - very similar (although not as high) as our Dickabram Bridge!

Tomorrow promises to be clear and warm and we are hoping to do a day cruise to  Doubtful Sound - quieter and less crowded than Milford Sound.

Water and Eis

Hamburg is a major port city in northern Germany, and connected to the North Sea by the Elbe River. It's crossed by hundreds of canals, and also contains large areas of parkland. For more information check out http://www.hamburg.com/sights/

Markus works for Customs here at the port and was proud as punch to show us a copy of the local newspaper last night that highlighted the recent haul of 3.8 tonnes of cocaine with a street value of €800 million found in a container packed with BBQ brickettes.

This morning we all slept in a little later, children included! We shared a breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon, rolls and meats and cheeses and pickled cucumber and honey - strange but oh so good.  I'll make some when I get home. Today Markus and Inga have suggested that we all go by train into Hamburg (because with the present roadworks around the city, the traffic and parking will be a real problem) and spend the day near and on the Elbe River and visiting a new park for the children to play.  I gave Finn a couple of euros to buy his eis (ice-cream) today so he is excited.

We leave here about 12 noon with Michael and Markus walking the children to the station while Inga and I drove down.  It took all of 3 minutes in the car and perhaps 5 minutes more to walk. We parked very close to the station in a free area. The all day group ticket that covered the train and ferries (and buses if we wanted to use them) that covered all 6 of us cost less than €20!  Bargain.
At the main station, we come across the statue of the water carrier - a former Hamburg resident that carried water for a living.  Young children used to tease him and because he could not chase or smack them he would famously say "you can lick my a**e"!
Photo opportunity for Michael of course.


The train takes 30 minutes into the main station in Hamburg and we then change to a U-Bahn (Metro) train for a further 3 stops which puts us very close to this new playground. It is a combined playground and water park that friends had told them about - and Finn in particular just loved it here. We drank coffee while he played to his hearts delight in the water and sand and genuinely enjoyed ourselves too. Later we went to an ice-cream shop that Markus sometimes visits from work. You choose your ice cream and a number of toppings and they are then all mixed together.  We had vanilla ice-cream with cherry sauce, cornetto chips and white chocolate flakes - SO GOOD.  Finn bought his kinder (child) sized vanilla with cornetto flakes. Lena being a baby was just happy to be in the sun, well fed and being ogled at by us all.
We were all happy.  We are now sitting harbour-side and looking across to the ports where Markus works. He explains about the traffic light system of coding ships depending on their origin and some of the ways that drugs, or cigarettes, are hidden. Very interesting.

From here we then walked around to the other side of the harbour to catch a ferry up the Elbe. One ferry takes us half-way and before we board the next ferry to take us to the mouth of the river, we stop to have 'fish burgers'. 

This is Markus favourite and he chooses the Bismark - which is basically rollmops and pickled onions and peppers, I have the walnut bread with smoked salmon and cream cheese, Inga has the Thunfish toast and Michael ordered the Merlan fish (whiting) that was served warm.

We ordered frites for Finn, but most were eaten by the adults!

The Salmon was great, Michael enjoyed his Merlan and Inga said the Thunfish was great. But Markus, well, he relished that burger though none of the rest of us could stomach the thought of it.  We had lemon and mint water - but were badly disappointed after the amazing ones we had in Romania. 

We tried to catchup with another couchsurfer - Anya today who is also living in Hamburg, but her plans and ours just didn't mesh. Oh well, next visit!

We spent the afternoon on and off ferries and walking through parts of old Hamburg around the docks. Fascinating and really gorgeous architecture. We are waiting for the ferry to begin the trip home and I commented to Inga how lovely the light is at this time of the day when the shadows lengthen and the harsh rays of light are gone. Thinking it was about 5, we are horrified to find that it is now 6:40 pm.  No wonder the children are tiring (and me!)

We head for the station - about 200m Markus assures us.  Huh. Maybe as the crow flies. We actually walked about 2.5 kms!  Inga reminded me that when they travelled in Australia, Markus favourite saying was that it was "just around the corner" or "not far to walk" and it didn't seem to matter how far it was.  Told him later that his sense of distance was totally crap!!!

Still, it has been a great day.  We had planned crepes for dinner, but the consensus on the way home that delivered pizza was to be the order of the night!  Easy, quick and we could order it en-route so that we could eat soon after we get here.  Great idea as we are all knackered.

We got some great pics - I'll put some more up on FB.
Tired as now at 12:17am and needing to go to bed as we have a 7 - 8 hour drive back to Steph and Felix tomorrow.

So Inga and Markus have had their first couchsurfers (literally).
All worked out very well indeed.  Guess we will have to leave a very positive comment!

In Romania where . . .

Had no access to internet yesterday, so we are playing catch-up.

Tuesday 8 August.

As we had travelled to and fro from Casa Dinainte near Cluj, the road passed through this dark, cool, quiet forest. This morning we made a quick stop so we could get a photo.  Had to be quick though as this forest is supposed to have frequent paranormal phenomenon (what else would you expect from a forest in Transylvania?!)  Not sure what the mix of trees are although there is birch among them. 

And the bees couldn't give one hoot or buzz about the ghoulies - they were happy drinking nectar from the roadside flowers.

Today we had a big day of driving - we began by heading west to Oradea where there is a star citadel to explore. We are skirting one edge of the Carpathian Mountains and the scenery is stunning. Its very alpine and you could be in any one of a number of central European countries.  The last of the summer grass is being cut and piled high to dry to provide winter fodder for livestock. Old men seem to do the work here - you never seen young men

wielding the scythe to cut the grass.
The times estimated to travel relatively short distances is amazingly long. But when you add winding hairpins up and down slopes and meandering through valleys beside rivers to the poor condition of most of the rural roads, there lies the answer why. Believe me Helen - the Amalfi Coast has nothing on these corners!

Right along this route, we pass stall after stall after store selling locally made goods.  But alas, they are all too big for us to consider buying for home. 
As we reach Oradea, the architecture takes on a new twist. It soon becomes my castle is bigger, my castle is more colourful, my castle has more ornate guttering - than yours!

I soon realise that we are going to have to keep pushing on if we want to make our final destination of Viseu de Sus by nightfall. So we ration the visit to the Citadel to one hour. We might come back on our return to Cluj if there is time.

The Citadel has been fully restored (probably with EU money) and there are some excellent displays.  Many of the buildings inside are in permanent use by either the Museum or other civic duties.  It began with fortifications in the Roman era and despite being beseiged many times by the Ottomans, the Mongols and much later the Turks, the fortress was never taken. It has been built over many times and in one archaelogical display, the

layers of building and life are clearly visible.  Parts of the original paintwork and some of the sandstone carvings that would have adorned doorways and halls have been found and are on display. We had only just scratched the surface of this fascinating place, but had to push on.

We now turn north to Satu Mare, then east on through Baia Mare, through Sighetu Marmatiei and finally turn south for Viseu de Sus.  We have traversed the first edge of the Mamamures - that stunning range of mountains that straddles northern Romania and southern Ukraine. Oh, if only we had more time.  Is there a promising Lotto game any time soon back home?  I'll throw a few more photos on to Facebook!

And what is so appealing about Viseu de Sus?  Well, it lies deep in the

Maramures and there just so happens to be a steam train here - part of Romania's last working steam logging operation (there were 1500 still operational up until the 1970s with the last steam loco being built for this industry in 1972.)  And to really make Michael's day and night, we are booked in to the Carpatia Express Hotel - where we sleep and dine in railway carriages!

So an exhausting day of driving (only) 447 km where it took a total of 10 hours driving - with that one hour respite at the Citadel!

We were greeted by Bridgette from Switzerland at the Dining Car as we arrived and once we quickly gathered the key for the cabin, she filled our bellies with Vegetable Soup, toasted Ham, Cheese and pineapple on toast, Swedish Meatballs with the yummiest piquant gravy and potato and pea mash and rounded out the night with Swiss Mousse. Two tired travellers gratefully partook!

And tomorrow - the steam train!

ROMANIA WHERE:

• Mountain roads twist through birch and fir forests - but prove no challenge for maniac drivers hell bent on overtaking at all costs
• If any building code exists, it isn't enforced - everything from timber sheds converted into dwellings, from besser block or clay bricks daubed with mortar, to concrete cancer riddled leftovers from the days of communist rule, to the newer gaudy 'mine is bigger than yours' painted in every colour of the neon rainbow 
• Storks nest two by two high on telegraph poles
• It is still ok or the farmer to take his wife to town in the high sided wagon pulled by horse or tractor
• Old men deftly wild age-smoothed scythes in the fields as young men race by in late model cars
• New money eclipses old money - we have never seen so many high end cars
• Everyone in the rural areas is a market gardener - and they all sit patiently selling the same produce at their front gates
• It seems compulsory to sit on a bench seat outside your fence chewing the fat with your neighbour and taking the last of the evening sun between 5 and 7 in the afternoon
• It feels perfectly normal to be sleeping in a railway carriage as you hear the steam locos hauling timber, and being fed by a Swiss cook.