Well, so far in my postcards I have talked scenery, weather and many other joys of NZ, but the one thing I haven't talked about is probably the most important, food! Yes, the life force sustainers, the thing that brings joy wherever you are, whatever you are doing. So, if you do ever find yourself in NZ make sure that you pop along to Coromandel Town and take a trip to The Pepper Tree, one of THE best restaurants I have ever been to, and I'm salivating thinking about it. We arrived in Coromandel October 20TH which turned out to be Labour Day weekend. Basically the kiwi's have come up with a brilliant idea. Why should we have to wait from September to December before a long weekend? Why not stick one in at the end of October, so they did. This is probably the busiest weekend that folks around here love; everyone travels around to meet with family and friends to enjoy the weather and just have a fantastic time. Thankfully we had booked ahead so we were lucky to find ourselves in a gorgeous motel/hostel. Everywhere was packed and turning people away so it was a good feeling to pull up in the coach, dropped off at the door and be presented with a little slice of paradise. The cabins were all wooden with this cute little sailing theme so all of them were named aptly. We dumped our bags and took a look around, what a brilliant place! There was a gorgeous outside pool and even better a spa, both free to use!! Wow, it took some serious discipline not to hoop and holla and jump in straight away. So we decided to walk into town and pick up the essentials, bread, milk and a little alcohol. As most of you know I don't drink very much at all, but a bottle of Malibu seemed so appropriate at the time. Strolling into town it turns out the only shop is a 4 Square store, like a Spar, which was rather expensive, so we thought f*** it, let's eat out for the few days we are here and what a treat we were in for! Ambling across the road we spotted The Pepper Tree; we went in and never seemed to leave. Any time they were open, we were there, even to the point of getting to know the lovely waitress that served us for lunch and dinner. There were lots of other places to eat, but once you've eaten here, you don't ever want to subject your taste buds to anything else. We perused the menu, enjoying each description, even if we didn't like what it was and made our choices. Can I say their honey chicken salad was divine, straight from heaven down to my plate. I don't think I have ever eaten so much salad in my life, but oh my gosh... it was worth every mouth full. The honey melted over the chicken, the leaves and extras and slices of the sweetest mango to top it all off. Mmmmmmm...mmmmmm....mmmmm.... well you get the idea. And then onto dessert, oh yeah, bread and butter pudding. Not something I usually go for, but once I'd had a bite of Tilly's there was no going back, she really didn't see much of that one! Anyway, back to the hostel. As I said, it was gorgeous. Our room was on the end of the block so could sit outside and look out over the pool and sitting majestically over that the hills that led to the east side of the peninsula. The kitchen was an ok size, but massively busy as the place was fully booked, thankfully we didn't have to fight for room. This connected to the little TV lounge bit with a couple of sofas and sky, yes sky. I'm not a real sky buff, but it had been a couple of months since I'd seen anything remotely to do with the premiership so treated myself to a couple of games, even managing to hook up with a couple Newcastle fans to enjoy the game with, bliss! Tilly read during these moments! And so to the pool, what better way to end a lazy afternoon and freshen up in time for dinner (at The Pepper Tree) than a dip in the pool. As I mentioned this is Labour Day weekend so most people went out until late at night, so most of the time we had the pool to ourselves. Then what better way to warm up, it was slightly cold, than a dip in the spa. *sigh* it was truly special, a glass of Malibu and coke, the warmth of the bubbles on your skin, a gorgeous view and, of course, even better company. This place was a haven, one of my favourite places I have visited since the trip began and I'm hoping to go back there before I leave. It is worth a peak if you happen to be in the area and if you're looking for a place to stay, make it the Anchor Lodge, cheap, but amazingly fantastic. I will definitely treasure the memories from these few days for the rest of my life.