Struth! 30,000 Jaffas on the loose

STRUTH !

IN his continuing search for the more weird, whacky and wonderous in the world of travel, DAVID ELLIS says that if you thought it a ridiculous waste of pocket-money rolling Jaffas down the aisle at the local Saturday afternoon flicks, consider how much it will cost to let 30,000 of the little red critters loose on a public street in New Zealand in July.

It’s all part of the annual Cadbury Chocolate Festival at Dunedin that celebrates the local Cadbury factory being responsible for 75 per cent of all New Zealand’s commercial chocolate production.

And it’s not any old street they’ll be rolled down: Baldwin Street is recognised as the world’s steepest roadway, falling at an average rate of one metre in five over its 350-metre length, and at one stage one-in-three.

All 30,000 Jaffas will be numbered and sold on behalf of local charities at a dollar each, with the 20,000+ spectators who turn out for the bizarre event hoping to win prizes ranging from holidays to mobile phones (and of course chocolate hampers) for the first handful of Jaffas across the line.

The Chocolate Festival will be held in Dunedin from July 11 to 17, with activities from the Great Jaffa Roll to kids cooking events (with chocolate of course,) Choc-Art exhibitions and an evening of Chocolate, Jazz and Shiraz.

Travel agents have details.