Cadbury, Alpenrail and Wildwoods

Cadbury

On our first real day in Hobart, we (Siena and I) insisted on going to the Cadbury Factory. We had previously heard that they did tours of the factory. Yum, chocolate, why not go? Because they don't do tours anymore. Last year in March/April, (we missed it by one year), they had to close down the tours due to health issues. It doesn't mean that you don't see anything though, as you see a presentation, and if you look into the mirror afterwards, you see your eyes spinning 'round with all the goodies you have just witnessed being made (and the free samples you have received). The one they sell the most is Cherry Ripe, a dark chocolate outside with a coconut and cherry filling. The largest bar they make is 10 kg., and goes for about $145 AU in the shop! My favorites are Boost, Carmello, Roses and Old Gold Dark.

~ Avocet

I love chocolate! It is one of my favorite sweets and I love to eat it. After the presentation about Cadbury and chocolate, we went to their sweet shop and bought chocolate!!!! Cadbury mostly has milk chocolate products but we did find some dark chocolate (I prefer dark chocolate to milk chocolate). Some of my favorite Cadbury chocolates are: Cadbury Dairy Milk, Cadbury Freddo, and Boost. Cadbury's main product is chocolate but they also sell some candy. The presentation was mostly about how you make chocolate and about Cadbury's history, and its chocolates. YUM!!

~ Siena



Wildwoods at Alpenrail

Before we visited the trains of Alpenrail (Below), we noticed a door with a picture of a fairy on it which read "Wildwoods Fairy Garden, One For All". There is a small door there, but you don't really have to go through it, you open the door by the small door's handle and the big door opens! You walk through a small entry way area and then you get to the garden, Wildwoods. There are many directions you can go. Some paths lead to things like the Enchanted Cottage while some of them are just pretty lanes with dead ends. Please enjoy your tour virtual of the miraculous Realm of the Magical.

~ Avocet

The first thing we did when we got into the Fairy Realm (Wildwoods) was go to the Enchanted Cottage. It looks like a regular cottage on the outside but on the inside, there's a pretty fairy set-up in the window. Then, we went to Fairy Glen Falls. Fairy Glen Falls is a miniature waterfall with fairies, pixies, brownies, etc., all around it. It was really pretty!! There is also a lot of moss. Nearby there is a little pond with mermaids all around it, with water lilies, and fish in the water. After that we walked around the garden and ended up next to Chalet Wildwoods where we had tea and biscuits.

~ Siena




The Trains at Alpenrail



Almost all little boys who grew up in the sixties had a train set. I did...and loved it. What I thought would be just another Tasmanian “Class B” attraction (re: the trains) turned out to be really awesome. There was an entire building measuring probably eighty foot square filled with an alpine scene of Switzerland.

In this space were handmade trains and landscapes. They are phasing out the purchased trains from long ago with their own pain-stakingly carved, molded or constructed from detailed plans of trains and scenery of that region. Some people have recognized the surroundings while visiting from Switzerland. So realistic is Alpenrail that they computer controll daylight into dark with a storm occurring high in the mountains. To coin a term from those sixties: cool!!

- Marty