Farewell Cambridge Terrace...

From this:


and this:


to this:


and this:


and this:


and now finally, this:




But it's not all bad - cos they have this.

Melbs

We spent the past few days in Melbourne (to attend the most elegant wedding ever) and were overwhelmed with all the food and things to see and do.


If there was one place we would like to spirit back to Christchurch with us, it would have to be Cumulus Inc on Flinders lane - we went three times in five days. The service was amazing and the food perfect. Actually perfect. One time we sat at the bar by the kitchen and watched the genius chefs at work. They had this large tub of eggs, sitting at 55 degrees - perfectly poached - just pluck one out and crack it onto your dish and there you go...


It made us realise that it's all in the details - the pots of jam and the simple presentation - no smears of jus on the plates, no fancy coulis, no sprigs of micro-greens, just simple delicious food.


But it wasn't all food - there was art..


there were bikes...


there was fancy siphon coffee..


And there was The Everleigh - my kind of bar - quiet, stylish with slick table service and delicious cocktails served in 1930s crystal glasses (I had a Debutante - gin, lime and orange bitters)...


As an aside, we both had rotten colds while we were there and on the recommendation of the waitress at Movida (oops, back to food), I tried a sherry as an aperitif and IT WAS AMAZING. Possibly my new favourite evening drink. Just need to get myself a bottle..

And because I can't leave the topic of food alone - we had dinner somewhere which featured this on the menu:


...which we (unsurprisingly) didn't order.

We did order some of the best thai ever at this place though...


and went on a mission South of the river, so Matt could call in on his favourite furniture store of all time...

An amazing trip. Sorry Christchurch, but we are gutted to be home (although the kid is very excited by his Playon Crayons, his Plui and his very own child sized Ikea table and chairs which the nice man at check-on let us bring back at no extra charge even though it was clearly excess baggage).

Stuck in our heads..

This haunting tune from Lana Del Rey...

Still Truckin'

In case you were wondering what had happened to me - well, nothing. Things are just the same, but the weather is getting slightly warmer.

The aftershocks are continuing, and the houses are still broken - I walked past this one the other day:


The television is just sitting there, and there is still food in the pantry. Crazy.


And I picked this up from the local doctor:

Twelve months on, things are still far from normal round here.