Bye bye Balaclava.

Aradhna and I have been packing, moving and settling into our new place in Ivanhoe for over a week. Oscar (shown inspecting boxed items in our Balaclava place, above) is just now growing comfortable with his new surrounds. Theo spends most of his time beneath a blanket in the bedroom, imagining that nothing's changed and he'll find himself in the old place when he peeks out. Tough to leave the bohemia of Balaclava for a more sedate and, quite frankly, lily-white section of Melbourne but we snagged a lovely apartment that's a short, leafy walk from the Ivanhoe & Eaglemont train stations. It's also less rent. Most importantly, Ivanhoe is in Melbourne's northeast (Balaclava was south) which means we've got many new neighborhoods to explore and, for me, dozens & dozens of new cafes to discover.

Snapped a few photos along Carlisle Street before shoving off ...Carlisle from beneath the train overpass.
The much-ballyhooed Wall Two 80.
Typical traffic madness.
Big Matt at Gattica, far & away the best barista in Balaclava and fellow gearhead/hip-hop fan. His familiar cap-topped cranium is moving to Geelong, however, leaving Carlisle St. bereft of Orange County cool.
I'll have to make do without fresh challah bread w/sultanas from Glick's every Friday. Then again, Balaclava isn't that far from Ivanhoe ...