Last post of 2008

This Christmas week I've done my best to keep from missing folks back home but have not been too successful. On Monday, Jenny, Spike, and I did the Cadbury's/Speight's tour double. The Dunedin Cadbury's factory occupies a city block just east of the Octagon and on weekdays delivers chocolatey aromas to homes and businesses nearby. The 45 minute tour was much less informative than I was expecting, but we did learn that chocolate was first eaten by the Aztecs in Mexico and that there are three varieties of chocolate: milk, dark, and white (which contains cocoa butter but no cocoa solids so isn't real chocolate). After the tour guide told us a little about the history and production of chocolate, she took us into a purple silo and up a circular staircase where a ton of liquid chocolate was dumped 10 meters or so and then pumped up to the top of the tower for the next tour group. I was very angry the tour guide did not tell us what was going to happen because I would have at least stuck out my nalgene into the chocolate waterfall. We didn't see any of the real factory whatsoever. At the gift shop I bought several chocolate bars including one called Energy Scroggin with nuts and fruits in it that is not sold outside New Zealand.

We next walked to the Speight's Brewery and while we waited for the tour to begin, filled our water bottles with spring water from a tap coming out the side of the building. This water used to make the beer is free to the public, and hundreds of people fill jugs of it to take home each day. On the tour we learned that beer is somewhat older than chocolate, being first brewed by the ancient Egyptians around 6000 B.C. We learned that beer's ingredients are water, hops, barley, sugar, and yeast and got to see the giant copper vats where the mashed barley is boiled. In contrast to chocolate-making, brewing beer apparently produces some disagreeable odors, and the Dunedin girls high school uphill from Speight's has repeatedly written to the brewery asking them to do something about the smells, but Speight's has always replied that they were there first so deal with it. After being forced to sit through a horribly cheesy infomercial for Speight's, we were offered unlimited samples of half a dozen types of beer. I prefered the traditional "Gold Medal Ale" and the dark Porter. Everyone laughed when Spike turned beet red after drinking a single cup of booze.

On Christmas Eve Jenny rented a bicycle and we rode out on the peninsula. We attempted to visit Larnach Castle, the only castle in New Zealand, but were turned away by the high admission fee. That night we had a traditional Asian hot pot meal, a dramatic contrast from the usual shrimp and rolls we have back home on Christmas Eve. We found a large electric wok in the kitchen cupboard, boiled some water, and inserted various ingredients that Jenny had purchased from the Asian market, including taro (dense vegetable like cassava or yam), tofu, spinach, rice cakes, udon noodles, eggs, and corn. When one desired, one reached in with chopsticks and picked out some item and dipped it in a thick sauce Jenny had prepared from sesame paste, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, and chili. Soon enough we were joined by two curious surfer bums who have been staying in Carrington for over a week now. Orginally from England, they were living out of a van, traveling throughout New Zealand and Australia in search of the perfect wave but instead have happened across a girl they both fancy in the form of Kate. We also offer free showers, beds, and kitchen equipment, so it is unclear exactly how long they will stay.

Christmas Day I hiked up Mt. Cargill and took a side trip to the organ pipes, which are rather disappointing as rock formations but still feature a fantastic view of the surrounding countryside. I saw many other trampers, so hiking on Christmas must be quite popular with Kiwis. I managed a number of excellent bike rides this week as well, including one along the Pacific coast to the mouth of the Taieri River and another loop on the Taieri plain. I've done very little in the lab; part of me feels like this is okay since the whole department is dark and deserted, but my scholarly conscience has forced me nonetheless to print out and read several reviews on Alzheimer's.

Tomorrow I'm taking the bus to Queenstown where I'm meeting Peter Nunns, Williams '08. We'll be tramping the Rees and Dart track, which ordinarily takes five days, including a day trip to the Cascade Glacier. We may attempt to squeeze two days into one in order to be back in town for New Years festivities.