Another great lunch at Black Estate

Last weekend we had some amazing spring weather, so we went to Sumner beach for the morning.

The key to enjoying a morning at the beach in Christchurch is to keep you eyes out at sea....

...that way you don't notice the shipping containers lining the road (there to stop rockfalls), the bare cliffs, and the houses teetering on the edge, some already half at the bottom.

Football in the gap..

The folks at Nike helped set up a mini football field on a vacant lot in the CBD this week. Soccer isn't really my kind of thing, but a friend and I went along and checked it out - more for the sake of the kids than anything else...

  

It was kind of cool, but in the end my boy was far more interested in looking through the fence at the cordoned red zone to watch the crane and diggers.. 

 

Christchurch people may recognise that sheath of corn as Regan Gentry's Flour Power on the corner of High and Colombo St.

Cherry bomb....

Look what I found at the local Countdown supermarket:

At $1.99 per can, I think this is going to be the drink of summer...

The best thing to do if you live in Christchurch right now is...to leave Christchurch.

I know, it's cynical, but true. Nothing is better for the soul right now than a trip away. We went to Auckland Friday night for the Best Awards (where Sons & Co scooped a purple pin...whoop whoop!)..  And all I brought back was this photo of a Rhodesian Ridgeback:

 

Then on Sunday we drove up to the new tasting room at Black Estate...for the most amazing, sunny, relaxed afternoon.  Our boy hit on the ladies:

While we enjoyed the view:

Great place, great people, great wine and (now) great food too..

More earthquake tourism

I drove down Gloucester St today for the first time - it has been open for a while, but I haven't been interested until now, when I had to get across town quickly and needed to take the most direct route.

It is unrecognisable.  I stood on Gloucester St and took this photo looking north - east to the Colombo St corner - the tall building is the Forsyth Barr building.

 

And this is the Google Street Map view of the same intersection pre-quake:

I took a photo of the Isaac Theatre Royal on Gloucester St - the brick building to the right in the distance is the entrance/foyer, then there is a space/gap where the audience sat, then the building on the left is the stage - still standing, which a large shade curtain flapping in the breeze:

 The entrance to the Central Library:

 And the small arcade opposite:

Further round on Hereford St sits Shands Emporium - it had the best vintage clothing store upstairs, and is one of the oldest buildings in the CBD - it used to sit wedged between other buildings (again, a photo from Google):

But now it sits all alone.

Barely intact. I'm guessing the reason it is there at all is because of some sort of protection status, and hopefully it gets restored

Little-town

We drove over the Lyttelton this morning to pick up some supplies and the market and grab a coffee. It was actually kind of buzzing.  There is something about the view above that makes me always pick up my camera and take a photo.

There was an old piano set up on the main street, which Clem had a good old bang on...

And several small gardens planted amongst the rubble on empty sites..