The Quickest Summer Holiday

This Christmas ornament pretty much sums up 2020.

It was a gift from my sister. 

Our Christmas was low key but as the state of Victoria had been free of COVID cases (until Xmas) for nearly 2 months, we were able to able to spend it with my sister and her family.

On Christmas Eve I made my usual boozy trifle with fresh macerated nectarines, peaches, raspberries and strawberries.

My sisters partner made a delicious pavlova as well.

Instead of the usual trinkets, our Xmas crackers had animal balloons inside. The box contained a little balloon pump and instructions to make different animals. 

A few days after Christmas we packed the car and headed up into NSW. We were to visit my parents in Mollymook on the NSW South Coast for the first time since Easter 2019. We did see the Mothership and Fatherdom in Feb last year and at Christmas 2019, however due to the massive bushfires of 2019/20, they had to hurry back and we were unable to make our usual trips up throughout the year because of the border closures between Victoria and NSW.

Needless to say we were absolutely busting to get up to see them, my nana and aunts and the beautiful beaches of Mollymook and Narrawallee.

After a 9 1/2 hour drive we were so happy to finally see this.

At this time there was a small outbreak in Sydney which is 220km north on Mollymook. After going through the outbreaks in Melbourne and the strict lockdown conditions there, we decided to go, maintain social distancing, wear masks indoors and crowded places and scan QR codes for any businesses we went into, just as we do in Melbourne.

The next day we got to visit with my aunt and nana. My aunt has these gorgeous rainbow lorikeets that fly into her garden.

The following morning was New Years Eve and we watched a news broadcast which announced a few more cases in Sydney.

The Victorian acting Premier advised all Victorians who were visiting the 'red zone' areas of the Sydney Northern Beaches, the central coast north of Sydney and Wollongong had to return to Victoria by midnight New Years Eve and isolate at home for 14 days as well as take a COVID test.

We were hundreds of kilometres away in a 'green zone'.

So we went to the beach.

We love this beach. Sonofagun No.2 was happily playing in the surf for a full hour.

The Mothership called at 4pm. She said there was another news update that afternoon. The Victorian acting Premier came back on and decided ALL Victorians had to return to the state IMMEDIATELY.

All of us who were in a 'green zone' had to cross the border by midnight that very night. 

If we did we would be required to get a covid test within 24 hours of returning home and isolate at home until we received a negative result.

If we crossed the border after midnight and before 11.59pm New Years Day, we would have to get a COVID test then stay in home isolation for 2 weeks. After midnight there would be a hard border closure and we wouldn't be able to get home. Those last 2 were not an option. So we raced back to mum's and within 1 hour we had thrown everything into the car and were on the road again.

We had 7 hours until midnight but it was a 5 hour & 44 minute drive.

At the border there was a long line of cars, trucks, motorbikes and vans.

We passed through the checkpoint at the border towns of Albury and Wodonga. Police were checking border permits which we had to apply for before leaving. They were actually really lovely and understanding. They would have been dealing with thousands of vehicles full of disrupted holiday makers. For most of us Victorians, it would have been our first chance to go on holiday after the strict lockdown over winter.

After passing the border checkpoint, we drove 10km down the road to a truck stop to rest. We bought a couple of boxes of hot chips, cracked some beers and this is how we said goodbye to 2020!

I'm not gonna lie. It totally sucked balls. The chips were hot & the beer was cold, but we were exhausted and had a completely shit sleep in the car. There's nothing more uncomf' than a seatbelt digging in your back and the drone of an invisible mosquito.

And it was heartbreaking to leave the parental units after just a day and a half. Within an hour of arriving home and unpacking the car, we went to get our brains scraped for COVID. It took a few days but we were all negative. Hooray!

Since then we have spent the rest of our time off doing little things around the house.

I started this basic crocheted granny square blanket in the car.

The Gloriosa Lilies were in full bloom at home.

In Spring I planted pots of violas and sat the pots in the garden.

I have also been finishing off a basic hexagon blanket.

Our COVID cases are wonderfully low here in Australia. As soon as a few cases pop up in each state, the premiers bring back whatever strict measures are required to squash the outbreaks as soon as possible. There are only a small minority of people who object to it but basically us Aussies have a very strong sense of community. We do the right thing because we want to protect each other but most importantly we know that if there is a threat to the other members of the community, it is equally a potential threat to ourselves and our loved ones. 

Thinking of you all out there with all the bizarre happenings in the world right now, especially to my readers in the USA. 

Louise

Red Haired Amazona