It’s December and summertime in New Zealand, supposedly. We’re battling torrential rain as we take the winding road from Waihi to Whangamatā on the northeastern coast of the North Island, the kind of road where every corner and turn you take results in a new vista with the rain so torrential you hope your wipers can keep up. Whangamatā is a cute coastal town on the edge of the Coromandel Peninsula – surfing territory, holiday territory, the kind of place where the quintessential Kiwi bach outnumbers mansions and the sound of the ocean is never far away. Not the first place you’d expect to find a French-trained bean to bar chocolate maker, perhaps, but to Thomas Capdevielle, a keen surfer with a potent mix of salt and cacao in his blood, it couldn’t be more perfect.
