Turning Japanese

A group of my friends and I go out somewhere to eat every month, we all take turns choosing a venue, with the only real rule that it should be somewhere the majority of us haven't been before (there are 7 of us, so this is quite a feat).  We have been doing this successfully for over 10 years.  After the earthquakes we changed the rules somewhat to support businesses re-opening - we could go to the new venue.  Even after everything that's happened in our city, we are still finding places we haven't been to, to eat out and enjoy ourselves.

Today's photo is the reservation for my table at Ace Wasabi, Papanui Road.  Lovely food, great company, good night out.  DD's Susan's Choice August 2012.

Sunny days

A beautiful day in Christchurch today, so I went for a wander down to the river.  The colourful seating isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it's a good recycling.  I understand they were previously in the bus exchange lounge.

Experimenting...

I have a new app on my phone that allows me to try and do multi-exposure shots... still coming to grips with this, but here's my first attempt.  New photo of Tatie merged with a blog photo of a wintry tree!

A stem of sunshine

Daffodils are a sign of spring, and mine are just staring to come out now... a lovely burst of sunshine on a green stem!

Thursday's photo

Taken on Thursday, progress of the Clarendon Towers coming down. Not so much "tower" any more. Only just poking up above the Re:Start Mall.

Hope Springs...

Despite the weather, there are signs of spring popping up around Christchurch.  The blossom along the Heathcote brightens up the picture and was my focus rather than the red cones and works along the river tonight.

A Where's Wally? Moment

It's actually the where's the mini? moment.  Sorry about the quality, I was zoomed in from the Colombo St end of the cordon, but it completely amuses me that this mini, has stayed up on this wall, right through ALL the earthquakes.  Whoever stuck it up there, should be rebuilding the rest of the city!  That, or passing on their 'superglue' recipe!  :-)

Eye without a face

Locals will recognise this iconic location.   I'm not heartbroken about this building though - it was ugly, and not even historic.  All the palava at the moment about designs - where were the protests in the 1950s/60s when this was put in place???    

The clock face has been removed from the Christchurch Railway Station and demolition has started in earnest.  An empty eye that sees through the clock tower remains.  It's weird.

The clock is being kept to be used when Science Alive gets a new building.

Movin' on up

A grey dismal start to the day, but as I walked up Colombo Street to work this towered over me.  The mid-city building has had workers inside and out, and now they're on the way up - adding one more level.  A positive sign for the rebuild?

Beauty in the grey

It has started raining, again.  This isn't my best shot, as I took it out the kitchen window and got a slight reflection, but thanks to the magic of instagram, it highlights the rain drops on the flowers and leaves.

Wet weather entertainment....

Namely, the NZ Film Festival.  One movie down, two more booked and I think, if this wet weather continues, I might take a little french doco in tomorrow before I end my holiday

Catch Up Posts

I've been away for a few days, so there are a couple of photos here, to make up for the last couple of days.  Here's yesterday's shot

Farewell, Auckland it's been a grand time!

And one of the reasons I was there in Auckland, was for a party.  Particularly a 40th birthday party, but also my godson's first birthday party was the "entree".   Nothing like a good cake for a party!  The kids' one looks great!

mmm, chocolate cake!

Graffiti defies Gravity

Or so it seems - I'm always astounded when I see Graffiti at such heights.  These artists obviously don't mind climbing! This is rather cool though.

A Sign Of Healing

I took this photo, because, well... Tatie used to sit up high all the time, until the earthquakes.  Just this last week she's taken to jumping up and sitting up on the fridge again and watching me.  I take it as a good sign that she's healing inside.  It's taken a long while, but it's a good sight.

Oh dear...

A few days without images as bad weather, a hip injury and work have taken over.  I'll be back in a day or so with photos.

Cheers
Susan

In the meantime though, here's a screenshot of a tweet I made after the NZ Rowers gave us two golds last night and pushed us up the table - it's the highest NZ has ranked in my living memory, so a good reason to cheer while it lasts... there's a lot of sport to come afterall.