Akaroa Fish & Chips

Tuesday February 14

It was Valentine's Day. Usually Holt buys Barbara flowers, Barbara buys Holt chocolates, and they take each other out for (or cook for themselves) a splendid dinner. But we were on the road; flowers wilt, chocolate melts. And we were eating splendid restaurant dinners pretty much every night.

The answer: go down to Akaroa's famous fish & chips place, from which we have seen countless locals carrying paper-wrapped parcels at dinnertime (and where we ourselves tested the batter-fried oysters - quite good - the day before). Get our own parcels: the fish of the day, blue warehou, tender dark-edged flakes in a deep-fried batter coating; and another new fish (to us, though it's standard on the menu): hoki, half in batter coating, half in crumbs; each with a mountain of soft-centered hot chips and the oddly American accompaniments of lemon, tartar sauce, and ketchup instead of vinegar.

Bring the steaming parcels back to our nice room overlooking palm trees, and spread them out on the wooden table. Pop open a bottle of New Zealand bubbly, Lindauer special reserve brut cuvée. Toast each other, and Saint Valentine, and New Zealand.