New Zealand North Island Tour Jan-Feb 2012: Wed Jan 18 (All the details):

I fiinally meet Terri (she and Jenni had flown into Auckland 4 days earlier).

First official breakfast where Eric makes coffee and oatmeal using his no-measure-when-cooking policy. We sign waivers, discuss cook teams and food likes/dislikes. Find we're pretty compatible food-wise: most like honey over sugar, crunchy pb over smooth, and lots of fruits and vegetables.

We embark on a 30 km bike ride along Auckland's shoreline past pretty beaches full of holidaying families. Tamaki Drive is similar to Toronto’s Martin Goodman trail (paved with one lane for bikes, one for pedestrians) but way closer to the water, and much prettier. We stopped at the Giant Showcase (pun intended) which was a beautiful new bike store, the only disadvantage being that it didn’t carry any other brand. It even had a shiny espresso bar which only lacked a barista (soon to be hired).

Terri and Jenni had found the best deal in NZ: 60-cent ice cream cones at McDonald’s! Too bad I only discovered that today – there had been a whole 2 ice-creamless days!

Dinner, courtesy of Nancy, was parmesan-artichoke-sun-dried-tomato pasta with a green salad! Simple, easy and delicious: a keeper we all agreed. For dessert, we had New Zealand chocolate (milk, mixed and dark) that Carole had discovered during her exploration of all the little shops in the byways and alleys of Auckland. Santa never tasted so good.