sounds like

"I believe if more people took up baking there'd be world peace."

Hopewell is a renowned lodge in Marlborough Sounds. You can get there by taking a narrow, winding road for 3 hours or like I did on a water taxi, which means Mike came to fetch me with a boat. 

There aren't any stores so I brought more groceries than clothes. Fortunately Hopewell has the kind of well-stocked kitchen you usually only see on TV cooking shows.  

Inspired, I traded a little mustard for arugula and made roast chicken with mushrooms, wine, carrots, and potatoes. We stayed up late talking about hiking in various national parks here and in Iceland, as travelers do. 

A front blew in from Antarctica so I skipped kayaking and went for a walk. 

Then I hung out in the hot tub for awhile and listened to birds. 

At some point, Rich surprised us with cinnamon rolls. 

He's baking focaccia now. 

Once upon a time he worked for Apple, but now he's figured out how to have two summers a year. 

(Hard to argue with that. It was delicious too.) 

It was a bountiful feast with guests from France, Germany, The Netherlands, Israel, the U.K., and Canada at the table. 

We talked about politics and religion and medicine and software development. And how far we'd come to this island nation in the middle of the Pacific. 

We did not solve anything over mussels in the rain. But warm bread and the right company will bring you pleasure and contentment, and maybe that will spread.