As of today, May 1st. I have been in government-enforced lockdown at my daughter's property near Canungra for five weeks and three days, so there's not a lot to write about from a travel perspective.
Having said that, the 'stay at home' rule does have some exceptions. We can go out for essential shopping, medical appointments, education, work or exercise. My son in law Adam, who is a tradesman, still goes out to work although he is not doing the number of hours he normally would. My daughter Shelley is a saddle-maker who specializes in custom hand-made bridles. She has a workshop on the property and is surprisingly busy. They both leave home to ride their bikes, shop or do work-related travel. Grandson Lachy is remote schooling under the daily direction of his classroom teacher via a web link. Shelley and Adam oversee that in the home.
As for me I have managed to keep pretty busy. I'm doing lots of chipping and putting practice, going on 8-10 km walks, working out on the rowing machine or doing Pilates on my yoga mat. I've started a new 'paint by numbers', done a few jigsaws, I'm knitting a jumper, reading, learning macrame, spending a lot of time on the internet and watching more 'catch up TV' than I have ever done in my entire life. Every now and then I make myself a gourmet lunch, pour a glass of wine and pretend I am sharing it with a friend, as I have so often done in the past.
My big outing is a fortnightly trip to Robina, some 30 km away, to attend the blood bank and give plasma. Woohoo! That's except for today. My appointment was canceled due to the blood bank running out of some pieces of equipment, necessary to the collection, that come from overseas. That's a worry for those who need blood products. Could it be the shape of things to come I wonder...shortages of imported goods!
The weather has been stunning. High 20's cooling just enough in the evening to warrant a daily campfire. That's the best part of my day. I collect and split the wood before lighting the fire around 5. Shelley joins me for a drink and a chat beside it - Adam as well sometimes. Even Lachy (who is umbilically attached to his computer) comes over and toasts the odd marshmallow from time to time.
I have lots of long phone calls with daughters Emma and Fiona in Victoria, as well as staying in touch with my sisters and a handful of close friends. Everyone seems to be making more of an effort to connect. That's an upside to this devastating pandemic.
We are all exercising 'social distancing' here at my new home as required but we have shared a few meals both beside the fire and in the house. Lachlan's 11th birthday was a special event celebrated by just the four of us with pizza and ice-cream cake. I reckon he'll remember it as his Covid Birthday.
Lachy and I did share another special time on Anzac Day when he came with me into Canungra to get take away coffee and brunch. We walked across to the park in the centre of town and were fortunate enough to share, inadvertently, in the 11am Ceremony. It was very moving with an old bugler playing the Last Post. I did shed a tear or two.
I'm loving the wildlife and the King Parrots are now so cheeky they fly into my van in the morning to sit on the back of my seat and look at me working on my laptop in bed! Clearly they want some sunflower seeds.
Yesterday Shelley and I flauted the rules and went for a drive to a nearby lookout where we shared a couple of glasses of bubbles. I have been missing my outback pub visits, so Shell took me out. That was a lovely treat. Big (distance) hugs for number one daughter!
There's no doubt I'm one of the lucky ones. I have a safe and beautiful space to sit out this absolutely weird time of Covid-19, I have family to interact with, we're all well and Australia is in a better position health-wise than pretty much any other country in the world. I know there are some of my fellow OZ travelers out there who live permanently on the road and are locked down in some not-so-nice spaces and circumstances. That could have been me! Lucky me!
APRIL 2020 COVID-19 STATISTICS & SITUATION
1/3/20
Global Infections: 86,604 Australian Infections: 25
Global Deaths: 2977 Australian Deaths: 0
1/4/20
Global Infections: 871,371 Australian Infections: 4763
Global Deaths: 42,107 Australian Deaths: 20
1/5/20
Global Infections: 3,322,966 Australian Infections: 6766
Global Deaths: 234,408 Australian Deaths: 93
In Australia restrictions have remained in place, with plans to start easing some state-imposed restrictions as I write.
The world is heading toward recession, if not depression, due to job losses, business closures and the economic consequences. Trillions of dollars are being spent by governments world wide to support individuals and businesses, and to prop up their economies.
Global debt is unprecedented.
Not only have we all lost many of our fundamental freedoms, but our future generation will be hamstrung by debt for many years to come.
The upside for our earthly environment is that because there are very few factories operating, almost no planes flying, a fraction of cars on the road and a huge drop in air pollution generally, the world can breathe again. The skies over China are blue and dolphins are swimming in the canals in Vienna.
There's always a silver lining....
