Edwards (42) took time out from international bowls after winning a gold medal in the pairs with Smith at World Bowls in Christchurch in 2008.
The 18-month rest did wonders and she re-entered the international arena in style by winning the world champion of champions singles title earlier this month.
Edwards is on target to become one of New Zealand's most successful international women bowlers and take her place alongside greats such as Elsie Wilkie, Cis Winstanley and Millie Khan.
Wilkie set the pace for New Zealand women bowlers when she won the World Bowls singles title in 1973 and 1977.
Edwards has already won two World Bowls titles and a Commonwealth Games gold medal. Her renewed enthusiasm has given her a thirst for more glory on the bowling green.
She was the star of the New Zealand championships in Dunedin in January when she won the singles, and the pairs title with Smith.
Edwards renewed her international partnership with Smith during the transtasman series in Invercargill in March and they are now on target to defend their World Bowls title in Adelaide next year.
Edwards and Smith are the New Zealand pairs combination in the Asia-Pacific championships and Edwards will also skip the four. Smith is the singles player.
Smith (46) was a double World Bowls champion in Christchurch in 2008 and was the only New Zealand bowler to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi last year when she finished runner-up in the singles.
She was given the winter off so she would not become stale before the big events.
"I wanted down time to recharge the batteries," Smith said.
The other world champion in the New Zealand women's team is Jan Khan (46), who won the world champion of champions triples title last year and a gold medal in the fours at World Bowls in 2000.
Khan, the most experienced international in the New Zealand team, has been competing internationally for the last decade.
She won a bronze medal in the triples at World Bowls in 2008 and has also won two bronze medals at Commonwealth Games.
Khan will skip the triples in Adelaide and play third in the fours. The other members of the New Zealand team are Genevieve Baildon and Leanne Curry.
The strongest opposition from the 12 other women's teams is expected to come from Australia and Malaysia. Australia's top women are Karen Murphy (world No 4) and Kelsey Cottrell (world No 8).
The top Australian men are world No 2 Bret Wilkie and last year's world champion Aron Sherriff, who is ranked No 5.
Australia dominated the most recent Asia-Pacific championships in Kuala Lumpur in 2009 with a seven-medal haul: two gold, two silver and three bronze from the eight events. There are 15 men's teams.
The key members of the New Zealand men's team are world champions Richard Girvan and Ali Forsyth, who are both based in Australia.
Otago's Shaun Scott will be playing in the singles and triples in his first Asia-Pacific championships.
Dunedin's Terry Scott is assistant coach of the New Zealand team.
The championships will be played from today until December 11.
Adelaide will host World Bowls in December next year.
Asia-Pacific champs - NZ teams
• Men: Singles, Shaun Scott; pairs, Dan Delany, Richard Girvan; triples, Tony Grantham, Scott, Ali Forsyth; fours, Grantham, Delany, Forsyth, Girvan.
• Women: Singles, Val Smith; pairs, Smith, Jo Edwards; triples, Leanne Curry, Genevieve Baildon, Jan Khan, Edwards.
• Coaching team: National coach Dave Edwards, assistant coaches: Terry Scott and Raelene Peters.
