Christmas in a Pandemic

 It has been an interesting year with a global pandemic the main decider of what we did and where we travelled. Now at Christmas time, we can look around the world and see the huge disruption the Coronavirus has caused. Most of the world is still in lockdown with international travel almost non-existent. 

We have been very fortunate that Australia has a very deep moat around it and we have escaped the worst. Even so, there have been to date 908 deaths with 820 resulting in an outbreak in Victoria, and 54 in New South Wales. Queensland has had 6 deaths and our premier has been quick to close the borders when outbreaks have occurred. In fact, every state border has been closed at times and for different lengths of time. Many of us are reluctant to travel interstate as the borders may slam shut at any time and we face quarantine on our return. Fortunately, Queensland is a very big state, bigger than many countries, and there are plenty of places to explore.

I have been at home again for several weeks. It is far too hot to be travelling in the van. Driving during the days is fine as the car air-con works well. However at night the main air-conditioner in the back needs to be plugged into power as the power from the solar powered batteries is not enough to run the air-con. That means either an overnight stay in a caravan park (expensive) or sweltering sleepless in the heat. I decided, as I have very efficient cooling in my own cottage and local shopping centres and coffee shops, that the best place to be during December and January is home!

As it happens, all my siblings and my kids and grandkids live in Queensland so we haven't had the disruptions that many families had to face - either staying apart from family or taking the chance of travelling when they may have to cancel unexpectedly or rush home prematurely.  We had a get-together of our generation at the end of November when all 13 of us were able to get together for an early Christmas gathering.

My goodness, we are looking our age (from 55- 78)

This was meant to be the year I got all my grandkids together for a photo. It hasn't happened so I have done the next best thing and got each family photographed separately. I will do a 'cut and paste' and frame them together if I can.

Krista

                                    

Andrew

Greg

Open Borders

This has been sitting in my draft folder for about 6 months. I am obviously not going to finish it so I'll post it, very belatedly.

We are free to travel. What a joy! For us Queenslanders, we can go anywhere in the state and are able to go interstate if we are prepared to go into quarantine. From next week, our borders will be open to all Australians, except Victorians who are suffering another spike in virus cases.

I hadn't realised that I was suffering from some depression until I visited my GP a couple of weeks ago and fell apart noisily and wetly. Being the wise woman that she is, she suggested that I stopped focussing on my health, which I can do nothing about as I wait for results, and dust off the van. I have done that.

Two weeks ago today, I left home and have now covered the 620 km trip to Rockamption, with a few very small detours and 12 overnight stops. I like the coastal trip north as I have a few family members to drop in on.  I spent two days in Maryborough as my aunt there is in a nursing home and I wanted to see her a couple of times. One of the shopping centres has free camping in their car park which is very convenient.  I also wanted to visit my niece in Wondai. I have almost lost touch with her over the years so it was nice to spend the night in her driveway and go out for breakfast together before I left.

I think it is lovely to meet up with family members because we always have so much in common. On this trip also I spent a couple of days with Judy and were joined by Chris (whom I'd always known as Little Chrissie). She was always one of the 'little kids' when we were growing up.  That doesn't seem to make much difference now that they have caught up with us. We've all taken our own unique journeys but have family history and family stories in common.and are never short of a topic of conversation. Tomorrow I will be in Mackay with my grandkids - making our own little bit of history together,