Postcards from New Zealand: Day Twelve

Tonight, we had mussels and Belgian beer at the pub. Kiwis are particularly proud of their mussels, which are bigger than the ones you get in the States, with green shells instead of black. The flesh ranges from a pale and pearly pinkish white to a creamy, almost lurid orange; they're chewy and taste a bit fishy. I generally find seafood to have a kind of celestial delicacy, but these mollusks are for mortal masticators.