In any case, after an uneventful flight we arrived in Melbourne and made our way to the Intercontinental…which was another surprise because it’s not the sort of place we normally stay in. We’re more your boho or b&b type but who’s complaining? Not me.

As we were waiting for our room to be ready we walked around the block and ended up on the other side of the Intercontinental and their very cool and inviting cafe which was packed with beautiful young people. We had another breakfast because the first one seemed like hours ago and soaked up the atmosphere and did some really good people watching. Back in the lobby who should show up but Severine and Chiara! Another trick up my baby’s sleeve. Nico, Sev and Chiara were going to spend the weekend with us!

We spent the rest of the day walking around with Sev and Chiara, having lunch with Nico who was in Melbourne for work, and then doing a little bit of exploring on our own. It’s easy to say we fell in love pretty much immediately and who couldn’t? The architecture was so interesting and beautiful. The little galleries filled with tiny, quaint and cozy cafes and gorgeous boutique shops were a huge draw and made us feel like we were in Europe. The streets were vibrant and filled with people and the whole placed seemed to buzz with excitement.

Later that night we went to have dinner with Nico, Sev, Chiara and some more friends…Mike and Clem and their son Gaspard who came over from Sydney, Edourd and Candice who just moved to Melbourne, and Mike’s friend Frederick. Dinner was at a place called European and the place was a small, warm, and European style cafe. The food was absolutely delicious and the service was incredible…something we’re dearly missing in NZ.

Saturday was another day of exploring and Nico, Sev, Chiara, Seb and I set off on the trams for St Kilda. St Kilda was nice but reminded me a lot of the little beach towns in NZ with it’s one street of shops of cafes. After a good lunch Seb and I set off to explore again, this time walking through neighborhoods to check out the architecture of the houses. So many styles, lots of interesting roof peaks, but tiny yards. I loved to walk through all the leaves that had fallen and it reminded us of autumn as kids when we both lived in countries that didn’t have evergreens everywhere. We stumbled upon a tiny boutique along the way where we found a housewarming gift for Candice and Edourd as well as a welcome mat for ourselves. Because you just can’t find a good welcome mat in NZ!

Saturday night was party time and Seb and I took off in a taxi bound for the Candice and Edourd’s before we realized we’d be going nowhere fast due to a traffic jam, at which point we ditched the taxi and jumped on a tram. Despite bad directions from the concierge we finally managed to find their place…a three story loft in an old chocolate making factory! We met up again with Mike and Clem and a friend from Seb’s past, Fabrice showed up too.

Sunday morning we set off with Clem to explore the Fitzroy area which soon became our favourite area. It has a bohemian feel to it with lots of cool shops, thrift stores and cafes. We spent the better part of the morning going from store to store before we met up with the friends at a cafe for brunch. It was great to get everyone again one last time before we had to head back home and it was sad to leave but we know we’ll be back soon. It’s all we talked about for the next week. Melbourne we ♥ you.

After our initial shock we packed up our disappointment and trudged home and did the only thing civilised people could have done…climbed into bed.

The following Monday I got a waiver from the Samoan consulate. It was easy and disturbingly so since it seemed like such a big deal the day before. In any case we booked new flights and set off for Samoa on the 8th. I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown at the ticket counter but it all went well and I didn’t have to be sedated.

When we arrived in Samoa we got overcharged for a taxi to the ferry terminal which I believe is the custom in any country. In any case we did make it to the ferry terminal just in time to catch the ferry to Savaii (the north island). It was a gloriously hot and sunny day and the water was a magical shade of turquoise. On arriving on Savaii we were bombarded by taxi drivers but thankfully our lodging was only a short walk away. As we walked we came across a little shack that sold fresh cooled coconuts. It was the first of many. Did you know that too many coconuts cause diarrhea? Now you do.

The first place we stayed at was Lusia’s Lagoon Chalet which was a quaint and exotic little place with a number of little fales (huts) literally over the water and a cluster of fales in the garden. We originally had a lagoon fale but the wind was seriously strong, even on the inside, so we moved to a garden fale. We spent the day taking a nap to ward off our lack of sleep and then celebrated being awake with the world’s best pina colada. Tui from Luisa’s is the guy you need to see. The recipe calls for fresh made coconut cream so don’t order one if you’re in a hurry because it literally takes 30 minutes to make. But the wait is well worth it.

The following day we headed off for Laiula Beach Fales on Lano Beach. Lano Beach is a beautiful white sandy beach surrounded by a lagoon. The fales are right on the beach looking over the pristine waters. There were only three other couples staying here so it was pretty quiet. The first day we enjoyed the water and the fale. As it turned out the day we arrived was Father’s Day and we were treated to an enormous and delicious lunch with the rest of the guests. The food was divine and my clear favourite was taro leaves wrapped around coconut creme. The following day we took a guided walk with Seiu who showed us how to open coconuts the proper way and the vintage way…both very entertaining. We were astonished by how much food grows in Samoa. There were coconuts, bananas, papaya, breadfruit, mangoes, and taro. The rest of our time was spent walking through the beautiful villages, snorkeling and paddle boarding.

We wanted to get to the north of the island so we set off on foot in hopes of catching one of the unreliable but very colourful buses. We walked through a number of villages before the first one picked us up and took us to the next village. Great. So we walked again until the next bus came by. On the second bus I met a woman named Seira who was super sweet and invited us to stay with her family for the rest of our trip. We accepted her invitation but only to stay one night as we had reservations elsewhere. I thought it would be great if we got off in Manase to rent bicycles and then cycle to Seira’s so we’d have transportation. In theory it was a great idea except we discovered that the bike rental place was closed when we arrived so we started walking again. This time we were lucky to get picked up by a guy in a pick-up truck who took us to the next village. Then we spent the next hour walking and sweating until we came across a spring. We ditched our clothing for swimsuits and cooled off and to our horror, our bus drove by. Back on the road we did manage to catch the next one which wasn’t too far behind.

After locating Seira’s village and finally her house we were greeted by her children and grandchildren who were all so beautiful, friendly and generous. Their house was an open fale but much larger than the ones we had stayed in as this one was for the whole family. The kitchen was outside and cooking was done over an open fire with everyone helping out at dinner time. We were actually astonished to see how well this family managed and interacted with each other. There was clearly respect for Seira and when she asked one of the children to do something there was no bickering or complaining. Everyone was happy and calm, even the babies behaved incredibly well. This family is poor but they have such a beautiful life together. In the evening before dinner Seira showed us her new store which was being built so she could sell necessities to the village. We also noticed the enormous bats flying around at night but thankfully they wanted nothing to do with us. Dinner was another enormous meal of chicken, taro, breadfruit with coconut creme, and a noodle dish. After dinner we all chatted for a while, the kids danced to radio music and then finally it was time for bed. Our bed was on the concrete floor but we did have a couple of blankets and a mosquito net. I think we would have slept ok if it weren’t for the dogs who were fighting and playing with each other most of the night but as it was the family got up before 6am so it was a short night. In the morning Lina, Seira’s daughter took us for a walk to see where there were some caves and then afterward we had a delicious breakfast of Samoan pancakes (which look like fritters) and fruit.

Our trip back to Manase was pretty easy. Seira and her husband Sofia had a friend drive us into the village on their way to do shopping in the main town. Our next fale was at Tailua Beach Fales. Tailua is run by Ina who is lovely and friendly and a joy to be around. We were the only ones staying in her fale and she gave us both a hug when we arrived. We felt like we were part of the family from day one. Our fale was picturesque set in the grass in front of the beach. We spent two glorious days here enjoying the beach, snorkeling and relaxing. The food at Tailua was again delicious…in fact the food all around was fantastic except for the one time we set foot in a resort…Stevenson’s at Manase…inedible and grossly overpriced. While we were in Manase we finally rented bikes and cycled to see the lava field which was a bit disappointing and the “Swim with the Turtles” which was kind of gross. Ok, so the tourist sites are probably best avoided but we did at least get some exercise.

We were dying for another one of Tui’s pina coladas by this point so on our second to last day we went back to Lusia’s Lagoon Chalets. We opted for a garden chalet this time and enjoyed our pina coladas as planned. The following day before our departure we each had a massage. Not a bad way to end the holiday on Savaii.

For my 41st birthday we played it cool and had our friends Romain and Liz come over for dinner. A nice intimate evening made all the more cosy with the fire going. Seb made dinner and I was so impressed (because he rarely cooks) that I photographed him in his apron (see below) making little goodies for the meal. Clearly he needs to spend more time in the kitchen because what he produced was outstandingly delicious. We had blanquette de veau (Veal with a blanket sauce?) and mousse mascarpone et chocolat (Chocolate and mascarpone mousse). Dinner was to die for and the mousse nearly did us in…it was so rich and velvety we couldn’t stop eating it until it was all gone so a serving for six quickly disappeared into four happy bellies.

In between dinner and dessert I opened my gifts as we all sat around the fire with our red wine…it was like Christmas but I got all the gifts! Romain and Liz gave me a beautiful large bamboo bowl with a blueish sheen on the bottom. The colour is really gorgeous and it almost seems a shame that they put it on the bottom but it’s beautiful none the less.

Seb lugged in two seriously heavy boxes from the car and we were all dying to know what was in them. The wrapping was so beautiful! I opened the little one first to discover an Italian hand crank pasta maker. Cool! My first thought was “now I can make ravioli!”. On second thought I might start out with linguine and work my way up but either way I’m looking forward to it.

The second box held the golden chalice of the kitchen world. I literally squealed like a schoolgirl when I ripped off the wrapping and saw what it was. Everyone was impressed with Seb at this point. I am one lucky chicky.

Right now my beautiful mixer is sitting in the middle of our dining room table beaming at us like the sun because we have no room on our dinky little counter top for it. It’s kind of funny but as far as I’m concerned it’s part of the family and it deserves to be there until we redesign the kitchen around it.

Company number one…excellent sales man although he lost points when he turned to me at the end of the meeting to hand me the designer grill covers. Clearly this part was the woman’s job. Fail.

Company number two…A clown in salesman clothing and not the funny kind. I think the word Seb uses is boeuf.

Company number three…Pointed out that we should insulate under the house before they put the ducting in or it will be a painful mission afterwards to do it. He’s the only one who pointed this out and his price was better than the clown and the chauvinist.

Company number four…Same product as company number three but more expensive because he’s contracting a lot of the work out.

That’s it. Four companies, one clear winner. So we signed the paperwork and we should have our heating installed in the beginning of June before refrigerator weather kicks in. Yay. Now to insulate.

Holy hell what a nightmare. I find it hard to believe that it could have been worse but yeah, I guess if there was duct work under there it would have been unbearable. For two days three of us, me, Seb and David, army-crawled and shimmied our way under the house to install the polystyrene insulation.

Let me be the first to say that the guy on the instructional video is lying to you when he says it’s easy. It might be easy to install in a house where you can stand under it and where the joists are the same width apart. Our house is 100 years old. The joists are covered in dirt and splinters and spider webs that could double as a wool blanket. The construction of this house certainly didn’t follow any code as the joists seemed to be put in all willy nilly at varying widths. And the worst was the fact that we were in dirt all day on our back trying to get the damn polystyrene to fit…which in many cases it wouldn’t so it had to be scraped back until it would.

And then there was the dead cat. In the shallowest part of the house with his face nearly up against the joists Seb discovered the dead petrified mummified cat when he came nose to nose with it. Clearly a memorable moment. I only wish I’d taken some pictures under the house while we were working so you could appreciate the horribleness of it all but we were all in such foul moods and were desperate to finish the work. The good news is that it’s done!

The schizophrenic front bedroom clearly had other ideas about what colour it wanted to be painted. We thought green but after painting nine test versions of green we couldn’t choose the right colour. The office was easy. I wanted green. It unfailingly wanted blue. It won. The bedroom however wasn’t so easy to understand. In exasperation I choose gray. I wanted Weimeraner Gray but somehow I ended up with Depression Gray and to make matters worse I bought flat paint so that when we were finished with the room it felt like we were on the inside of a jail cell or the hull of a ship. Attempts at brining in the beautiful wood skirting and suggestions about painting the fireplace white didn’t alleviate the overall feeling of “oh my god this is horrendous”.

We spent the evening in the kitchen choosing yet another green. The one we chose looked beautiful in the light of the kitchen on it’s 2cm square of glorious colour however on the wall of the bedroom it screamed flouro-granny-smith-apple. It was nauseating at best and we only covered one wall before we stopped to regroup. Lesson #213269, ALWAYS GET A TEST POT.

Regrouping over a few glasses of wine Seb came upon the bright idea of mixing the gray and the green. It was tenuous at best but we really had nothing to lose except more paint and time. And the good news is that it worked. Now we have a gorgeous sage colour that we’ll never be able to replicate but hopefully we never have to. The room is soothing and the colour blends beautifully with the natural wood features.

The room was not done with us yet though. We still had to paint the fireplace surround. After thoroughly sanding the hell out of it we almost left it but then at the end Seb decided he’d like to paint it chocolate brown. Bad idea. It made the fireplace look like it was literally a chocolate mold. Fear that it was going to melt if a fire was started haunted us. So back to the white it was and with relief the room seems happy with itself. No more colour therapy needed.

The days now aren’t so bad though and in fact they’re quite good and we really have no reason to complain. We’re lucky to live in a beautiful country although we could do without John Key running it, but that will pass. We have been in our new house for ten months now and we spent an amazing summer entertaining our friends and family there. The cottage in Coromandel is nearly done with a few minor finishing items to complete. Renovations are moving along at a respectable pace.

As summer changed into autumn I wanted to record some of the things that I really cherished in the last few months. Our vege garden was one of them.

After planting a good selection of crops we had some hits and misses. The broccoli grew into 3 meter tall trees and rarely produced a viable floret but somehow it managed to boost the white fly population (not good). Our green beans however were the star of the garden, producing huge handfuls of beans everyday. Everyday was an adventure searching among the beanstalks for beans that were ready to eat. Missing one that was ready meant it turned into a huge bean the next day. We ate the huge ones too but the smallest were the tastiest. The lettuces and tomatoes did quite well too but the rocket bolted under the hot sun and had to be pulled.

Having a yard this summer meant we spent a lot of time outdoors especially when we weren’t doing renovations on the inside. The bi-fold doors of our dining room opened up the whole house to the outside and vice-versa creating an excellent area for entertaining guests, having numerous bbqs, a big xmas party, and several other casual get-togethers with friends. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner outside under the big umbrella was so refreshing and added a relaxing quality to every meal. Swinging in the hammock under the great grapefruit tree became the perfect place for a nap.

Trips to Coromandel were well planned to include a swim on the way. We didn’t spend as much time as we would have liked in Coro but the times we did make it were fabulous. We had a lot of friends visit us in Coro this year including Aurelia and Etienne and their son Jules with Aurelia’s mom, dad and sister, Julia and Eric and Noah, Diane and Tristram and their boys, David, and Delphine and Lionel and Levana. Plus we were thrilled to have Seb’s dad, Daniel and Jennifer from France.

Now with winter on the way we can look forward to spending time in front of the fire. Not a bad trade-off for colder weather!

That man must have nothing to do. Maybe I should hire him as my P.A.?

Now I totally forgot what I was going to say and my French teacher is going to be here in 30 minutes so the pressure is on. I think I just wanted to say hi. I hope you’ve all had a great start to the new year. It’s really hot here and most of you are up to your knees in snow right now…which is fun but really really cold and that makes me even happier that I am here in humid hot and sticky Auckland right now. Except for the fact that I’d really like the sweating to stop before I become so dehydrated I resemble a raisin or worse.

Oh yes…In January we were very sad to see Daniel and Jennifer leave us to head back to their lives in France. We had a few days to adjust to the sense of emptiness before Mike, Clem and Gaspard arrived to stay with us for four days. We spent the four days drinking, partying, eating, working, drinking, partying, and running after Gaspard. I really felt bad for Mike and Clem when they left and had to jump on a plane with two things that don’t go well together…hangovers and an 18 month old child.

Check out January’s photos!

Eric, Julia and Noah came over from France and spent some time with the friends and we were really thrilled to see them. They spent the weekend in Coromandel with us and unfortunately it rained the whole fricking weekend which was incredibly bad timing, Mother Nature. We did manage to get one hike in before the rain poured down so hard we had to turn back. Diane, Tristram and their boys came over for the weekend too and we ended up having a great time despite the rain.

We’ve had so much going on that we really haven’t done much in the way of renovations but now that February is here (and half gone already!) we’re getting geared up to get back into it again. Stay tuned for more fab photos.

The weather is practically perfect. The wine is super cheap and doesn’t give you a headache. The cheese is pretty damn good. The architecture is top notch. The chocolate is divine. The people are lovely (mostly) and there’s no lack of things to do and see. Did I mention the cheese?

The first time I went to France I detailed what we did everyday. I kept a diary of sorts so that I wouldn’t forget anything and the good news is that I really didn’t forget anything which made my second trip far more relaxed. We spent nearly all of our time with family in Paris, Puyavault (near La Rochelle) and Hauville (near Normandy). In between Puyavault and Hauville we had three days to ourselves driving to tiny beautiful villages to visit castles and abbeys.

Over the next few days I’ll briefly detail our trip…in small digestible bits. We had an incredible, fun, and exhausting trip but we’re thrilled to be back home in NZ!

It seems there is only so much grapefruit two people can consume. So be warned, if you come to our house you are not permitted to leave without a bag of grapefruits.

Seb spent Sunday night juicing a sink full of grapefruits and ended up with three bottles full of the golden juice. Not bad for an hour of hand juicing.