A New LifeMary Bennett talks to Sue Hoffart about taking the cocoa-scented path from Ireland to the other side of the world for a sweeter kind of life
Tropical ferns fan out from the Bennett's chocolate factory, towards farmland and glistening estuarine tide pools in northern New Zealand.
A small fishing boat is parked alongside the building and subtropical fruit trees crowd the nearby vegetable garden.
From here, the glorious white arc of Mangawhai beach is a five minutes' drive and downtown Dublin seems a lifetime away.
In fact, it is just five years since Mary Bennett gave up her Sandymount terraced home and public health nurse career to become a chocolatier at the bottom of the world.
New Zealand-born husband Clayton, who instigated the move south, sold his 30-person Dublin pathology laboratory and the couple uprooted their three children, then aged six, eight and nine.
They sought more family time and a simpler, slower lifestyle. Something closer to Mary's farming childhood in Mullagh, Co Cavan.
Chocolate-making was to be a small, two-person cottage industry on the sidelines of their new life. But business has boomed to such an extent that they employ a dozen staff and supply about 5,000 chocolates a day to some of the nation's most exclusive hotels and department stores.
Plans are afoot to erect a much larger, purpose-built factory, destined to become the largest employer in the nearby coastal village.
"Sometimes we think, 'how did we get into this, what've we taken on'," Mary says of the burgeoning Bennetts of Mangawhai company.
The 46-year-old works alongside her staff, delivering a feathery dusting of cocoa or hand-piped curvy lines of dark melted chocolate. Creamy centres are imbued with champagne or chilli, blackberry, passionfruit, aniseed or coriander. A box of white, cardamom-flavoured truffles is destined for bedsides at the swanky Hilton Hotel.
It was Ireland's booming chocolate industry that set the Bennetts off on their cocoa-scented path.
They spotted a gap at the high end of the New Zealand market and an opportunity for self-employment. Research and much sampling of high-end European truffles led to two week-long training courses in Belgium.
An Irish-based Belgian chocolatier and other culinary friends offered advice and Mary began experimenting with classy packaging.
Then, they set about building a life far from family, friends and everything familiar. The children left behind uniforms and segregated Catholic schools to attend a small, secular rural school where boys and girls mingled in an informal, less-structured environment.
"It was a shock," Mary says. "On their first day, I sent them off in their Doc Martins and glamorous clothes and they came home barefoot. It has nothing to do with poverty here - it's all to do with the relaxed lifestyle."
While the children adjusted quickly, Mary needed more time. She hated leaving her parents and siblings and, like the rest of her family, missed their home, friends and the social whirl of Dublin. This new town was small, quiet, unfamiliar.
She recalls longer-than-usual conversations with shopkeepers and strangers as she worked to strike friendships and find her place in the community.
"The first year, I didn't think of myself, I settled the family. The second year, I really started to miss Ireland an awful lot," she says.
She still longs for the change of seasons, the particular shade of emerald and scent of home.
"But you stop feeling sorry for yourself and get on with it. Now, I love being here amongst the bush. The peace and quiet, the freedom you have.
"I would never want to live in a city again."
They have opted to live without a television and sometimes avoid the supermarket for a month.
"We can be fairly self-sufficient. We catch and eat fresh fish at least three times a week. We have a fabulous garden here, where we can grow all our veges. And we have grapefruit every morning for breakfast - I still can't get over that."
Besides, the thriving chocolate business leaves little time for backward glances.
Mary is responsible for marketing, all packing and sales and she works alongside a graphic designer on packaging and promotional publications.
Clayton handles chocolate-making, market development and any experimentation with new products or recipes.
Her love for spicy food and for fresh herbs led to experiments with more unusual chocolate flavours like thyme, chilli and rosemary.
A trip through the lavender fields of Provence netted a precious bottle of French lavender oil that found its way into chocolates.
While she gets a thrill out of signing up major clients and Clayton gets his kicks from creating a new product, they both treasure their downtime. The boat is hauled out when the factory is quiet. They make a point of attending their children's school events and of swimming laps in their pool most mornings and during occasional summer lunchtimes.
Like many of their employees, Mary's workday ends when school finishes, so she can be home for her youngest son.
Once children Harry is in bed, one or other parent frequently wanders back along the connecting wooden walkway between home and factory to check orders or fill machines.
Next year, the Bennetts plan to take a year off to live in France. A manager will run their factory while they sample European chocolates, attend the occasional confectionary fair and relax.
And each year, Ireland draws Mary back for a holiday.
"We do have a better quality of life here but I have to admit Ireland is still home."
See www.bennettsofmangawhai.com