The day started with a tour of Haigh’s Chocolate factory. Haigh’s is not a well known brand outside of Australia, but within the country it’s a bit of an institution. From the buzz in the waiting room, it was clear that people were excited to be here. Unfortunately for us, the tour was very rushed indeed. I can’t fault our guide though, I peeked at her office whiteboard and am sure that she did the best job that she could given number she had to lead that day. What followed was a tour that seemed almost more assembly line than the factory assembly lines itself! It was interesting to contrast the operation with that of Nestle’s Callier factory in Broc to see how a smaller outfit produces essentially the same product in smaller quantities. Interesting to note that many of Haigh’s chocolates are hand-wrapped. If anyone thinks that working in a chocolate factory is a dream job, then think again. Bless ’em, some of the staff looked rightly bored stiff as they shaped dollop after dollop of almond cluster choccies. Whilst a bit more restrictive that the unsupervised, unmonitored, unlimited tasting room in Callier, the Haigh’s tasting experience was nonetheless a worthy one. (Note that photography is not allowed inside the factory, so unfortunately I don’t have a lot to show you in the gallery.)

We left the premises wielding a discounted slab of hazelnut milk chocolate and headed towards Glenelg, Adelaide’s nearest beach to scoff our chocolate picnic. We finished the day with a trip to the local cinema to see Baz Luhrmann’s Australia with Nicole Kidman. I gather that the film has received some very mixed reviews. I must say that we both thoroughly enjoyed the three-hour movie and didn’t find that it dragged at all. If you haven’t seen it and you’ve got a vague interest in seeing a bit of the outback without getting out of your chair, then I’d recommend it to you.

We’ve really enjoyed our stay in Adelaide. Some people say the city is boring. I disagree and I don’t think that it’s just because we drove for four days across the Nullarbor nothingness to get here. True, the skyline is a bit drab, but I love the parks, there are loads of places to eat to suit all budgets and the people are super friendly and really helpful to lost tourists. It’s got a fabulous beach and is only a little over an hour from a spectacular wine region. It’s a city on a human scale, which is what I like and I’m adding it to my “where might I live” list. So there.

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