Another month has passed in this new world of Covid-19. I'm still living in my van at my daughter's property in SE Qld some 10 weeks since my hasty arrival to beat border closures back in March. We are all well and life is pretty bloody good!
The past month has seen the easing of some restrictions in all states, albeit in varied ways between states and territories. Whilst social distancing, frequent hand sanitation and self-isolation/Covid testing if unwell are a requirement nationally, in Queensland the kids are all back at school, 10 people can dine in at a restaurant, most shops are open and we are all free to be out and about within 150 km of home base. We still can't go off caravanning, however. At least, not just yet in this neck of the woods.
The weather has cooled significantly through May. Once the sun starts to go down it's definitely time for jeans and long sleeves, though the days tend to sit in the mid 20's and are delightful. My nightly fires are now a necessity beyond that of my mental well-being alone. The daily routine is as follows: heater on, onesie on, kettle on between 6 and 7AM; coffee, computer, ABC TV news and knitting in bed till 9ish; housework and exercise till lunchtime; then out and about for golf, shopping, blood bank etc; pick up Lachy from school at 2.40, to the shops for food for him then home by 3.30; change into warm clothes, split the wood and make the fire; 5ish, pour a wine and sit in front of the fire before retreating to the van for dinner around 7.
Picking Lachy up each day is a highlight. With adolescence looming and the desire to grunt rather than converse being something of a norm, the relief of escaping from school combined with the anticipation of food leads to animated conversation. It's a joy to my ears to listen to his excited chatter.
Golf is yet another joy. Most days I either go to the driving range at Jimboomba Hills golf course or get nine holes in at Tamborine Mountain course on the way to getting Lachlan. I treated myself to a lesson a couple of weeks back and it has made a huge difference to how cleanly I'm hitting the ball. Shelley and Lachy came to the range with me one Sunday prompting Shell to buy herself a set of second-hand clubs on Gumtree. That was a great day's outing. We went over to the Gold Coast to pick up the clubs then checked out a couple of the big golf retail outlets buying a new bag, putter and balls. From there we drove up to Clancy's Irish Pub on Tamborine Mountain (where we had pre-booked to meet the 10 person seating rule) and enjoyed a delicious sit-down restaurant meal and wine. It was excellent!
One stunning day Shell took me for a drive to a place called Lost World, a short drive south of Beaudesert. The surrounding mountains and geographic formations look like something out of prehistoric times. Really stunning scenery. We stopped to walk the dogs at a camping spot by a river called Darlington Park. It was closed off to campers due to restrictions, but open for day trippers. Definitely one to keep in mind when I hit the road.
Saturday just gone we enjoyed a family outing to the quaint little town of Boonah for lunch then up into the Koreelah National Park where we stopped to enjoy the amazing views at The Head. We ended up doing a 6 hour loop that took us via the beautiful Queen Mary Falls to Killarney on the south-western side of the range. The quickest way home meant we had to go across the border into NSW. With border restrictions that meant we could get into NSW but would be stopped at the checkpoint crossing back into Qld. Shell phoned a friend who just happened to be a cop and he talked her through doing an online application to get border passes downloaded to her phone. That did the trick and the drive home past stunning Mount Lindsay where our permits were checked by police as we returned to Queensland was very scenic.
Throughout May, with much help from Adam, I did some work on the van. The ceiling lights, one of which had actually fallen out and the other two of which were not working, needed replacing. I picked up 3 much more modern and very pretty new ones from Jayco. Adam put them in and they look amazing!
My bathroom/toilet cubicle had been giving me the shits for ages as the molded plastic had gone from white to a disgusting dirty brownish color, one of the mirror doors to the cabinet had smashed long ago so was missing and the other door was looking manky and rusty. One day when I was out walking I got talking to a neighbour who was a painter. I quizzed him about painting over the surface and he gave me details of the products that would do the job. A trip to Bunnings provided me with all the stuff I would need, and I set about the week-long task of prepping, priming and double spraying. It was messy to say the least as it was oil-based paint and airborne paint specs got everywhere...ugh! I eventually got it all done and with Adam's help one again, also installed two new mirror doors that I had made at a local glazier's. I was very happy with the end result!
MAY 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
1/6/20
Global Infections: 6,259,224 Australian Infections: 7,195
Global Deaths: 373,691 Australian Deaths: 103
As restrictions lift in Australia there is a growing sense of relief but there is also growing concern over our future. Relations with China have deteriorated, the USA is a mess and our confidence in their role as the world super power is crumbling. The stability of our economy, as well as that of every other country is a an unknown, and while our internal and external borders remain closed and restrictions on numbers of people who can gather is limited, it's difficult to see how life will ever return to normal.
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