Napier and chocolate

Catch up time again. We're now in the South Island - and it is magical and more dice-with-death experience, this time on the Franz Joseph glacier. But before that back to the North and our sojourn with Paula.

P & Stevie are unbelievably busy - not just with the pocket dynamos but with work, re-doing the entire garden, garage sales, the gym and pilates, not to mention cooking for us - and Stevie was the kitchen star. His chicken curry and Paula's fab lemon cakes rate honour in dispatches.

We all on impulse bundled everyone and everything up in our cars for a few days in Napier, a city recreated in Art Deco after the 1931 earthquake and located in the Hawkes Bay wine region. Despite the ducktruck through the harbour, the kiwi in the aquarium and the kiddie heaven of SplashPlanet, my favourite was definitely lunch at the Mission vinyard, beautiful converted seminary set on a hill where we ate home-reared lamb and drank a Mission reserve Pinot Noir to die for. Not to mention the dark chocolate coated orange and cinnamon ice cream pud for Paula and me (K - avert your eyes)






The little chocolate-coated love muffin seemed to enjoy his desert too:


Have to rush now. J, waiting for our trip to a glacial lake, has dumped coats on the table and declared 'no pressure'! More follows later...

Before I go Big love and beams to Chris.