Day 12 - It's beginning to look a lot like lockdown

Got the last refund for a hotel and a credit for a tour.

Went shopping and news started to come through that we are probably in for another lockdown from tonight, so even doing day trips is out for probably a week, possibly 2.

So that is basically my long service leave gone, probably no more updates since it's going to be "stayed home, watched TV". 

Day 11 - planning and flight to Perth

So, having booked the car and most of the accommodation, packed our bags, got everything ready, dropped the dog next door, I got a call from a blocked number.  

I always ignore these, usually spam but they called again so I answered it.

 

Just as well I did, it was the WA police telling me because we were transiting in Sydney we wouldn’t be allowed into WA and our travel permit is about to be denied.  

We had assumed that staying in the airport would be ok and that Qantas wouldn’t have allowed us to book the flight. Nope.

So we had to cancel the original flight, then book one via Adelaide and reapply for the travel permit to WA. Which we managed to do.

However, we don’t have a permit to go through Adelaide so may get turned back at the airport. We applied for one but didn’t get it approved in time.

At the airport, checked in ok, they didn’t ask to see the travel permit. So we’re on - we’re actually going on a flight, the first in 2 years. 

Hopefully when we get to Adelaide they won’t ask for the permit since we’re not leaving the airport, or it might come through while we’re in the air. 

The WA one was instantly approved, then they must review them later, hence the phone call.

Got to the airport, a bit surreal - quite a few people around. We went to the gate, other flights leaving from the same area, busier than I expected.

Our bags were overweight so had to pay $65 to Jetstar - having not travelled domestic for a number of years didn't realise how picky they were.

We finally boarded the plane, put our bags away - we're on our way!

Checked my phone - WA announced that Victoria had just been declared a low-risk area, which meant anyone travelling from Victoria would need to quarantine for 14 days on arrival, effective immediately. Which meant us. I asked the flight attendant if we could get off the plane - the door was still open. She didn't know, needed to ask her manager. After a bit of discussion, we were allowed to get off. 

I suspect since the flight went through Adelaide we could probably just turn around there, and the news the next day spoke about a flight that landed 15 minutes after the announcment and people were allowed to return to Melbourne.

So that was our holiday and flight - a trip to the airport and we got to sit on a plane for 5 minutes.

Not sure what we are going to do from here - just day trips I suspect, until the inevitable lockdown where we can't go anywhere again.

Day 10 - Walk and travel planning

Took the dogs for a walk then spent the day trying to plan a trip.

Our original plans to drive up to Cairns and then back down the NSW coast were thwarted by the Delta outbreak.

We then booked a flight to Perth yesterday with the intention of hiring a campervan and driving across the Nullabor and up to Alice Springs - only to find there are no campervans available. So if you book something ahead of time it gets cancelled due to lockdowns, if you try to book something last minute there's nothing available.

We are now looking at booking a car, and driving around WA.

So, managed to do most of the bookings now - Perth, Margaret River, Pink Lake Quairading. back to Perth, Geraldton, Exmouth, Kalbarri, back to Geraldton then Perth. Most days it's about 4 hours driving, but there are a couple of 8 hour days back to back.

Just some accomodation left to book. 

Day 9 - Walk and at home

Got up early to watch the Euro 2020 final, but took a while to download so went out for a walk with the dogs and watched it when we got home.

Penalties!!! The bane of the England team, failed again.

Spent the rest of the day trying to decide where to go on holiday - we had planned to drive up to Cairns via Canberra and then back down the coast, but the virus put a stop to that.

Tried to book a tour of Kakadu but no spots, so we are now looking to fall back on our original plan of hiring a campervan in Perth and driving across the Nullabor, then up to Alice Springs.

Trying to see if flights and vans are available. Bloody Covid.

I also spent some time re-arranging my IT kit, been meaning to do it for a while and moved some stuff upstairs and decommissioned an old NAS, copied stuff to my new(er) NAS. 

Day 8 - Walk and lunch out, stayed home

Another nice day, drove down to Port Melbourne and walked through Middle Park to Bay Street in Port Melbourne and had lunch at one of our regular places, Cream. Song had the full English Breakfast but gave most to Sunny, I had the Portuguese Chicken Club Sandwich.

Walked back along the beach, turned a bit cold, then back home where I watched Black Widow.

A lazy day (apart from the walk). Tomorrow we are going to book the holiday depending on which tours are available. 

Day 7 - NGV and walk

Weather was nice but decided to go to the NGV to see the Impressionists.

Very good, lots of Monet, Sisley, Pissaro, Renoir and a Van Gogh. Well worth the $30 each. It was pretty crowded and although everyone was wearing masks (well, almost, I did see 2 people without) there was no chance of social distancing as everyone was crowding around the paintings. I only hope there weren't any visitors from NSW.

Spent about 3 hours there, then came home and took the dogs for a quick walk.

Later decided to pop down to the beach to watch the sunset, quite a few people down there with the same idea.

Went to bed late, watched the first 2 sets of the Wimbledon Women's Final, then Song sat up in bed and watched the scores online and woke me up at 01:00 to tell me Ash Barty had won.

Day 6 - Walk and at home

Another nice day, we were going to go to the NGV to see the Impressionists but instead went for a walk with the dogs (ours and next door's) down to Elwood beach. Weather was nice, sunny but cold (it got down to 2C overnight).

Went home for lunch, then tried to plan the rest of my leave. We're looking at a few days in Queensland to do the reef, fly to Darwin and do a 3 day Kakadu tour, then fly down to Alice Springs and do Uluru, then fly to Adelaide.

When we're in Adelaide we'll decide if we want to hire a car and drive a bit along the Nullabor, or drive or fly back to Melbourne.

I also watched Interstellar for about the 4th time. 

Day 5 - Flinders

The original plan was to watch the England v Denmark Euro Semi Final then go to the NGV to see the Impressionist exhibition, but the weather was so nice we decided to go to Flinders for the day.

I was up at 08:00, ready to go at 09:00. Song got ready, and we hit the road at 11:15.

It was only an hour and a half to Flinders, decided to have lunch as soon as we arrived, had fish and chips (although Song had a Chico roll instead of the fish). Actually I asked for chips but Song decided on wedges. I prefer chips. She also bought a vanilla slice since the fish and chip shop for some reason holds the world record for the largest vanilla slice at 500 Kg.

There was an article in The Age ( https://tinyurl.com/us6txy8r ) about Sir David Attenborough having written a letter to the Flinders Community Association in support of saving the pier which the government had decided to demolish, because it was the habitat of the weedy sea dragon. So naturally we had to go and see it, as did several other people as well as a reporter from Channel 7 who was talking to a drone. 

It didn't look too bad, not sure why they wanted to knock it down. Didn't see any Sea Dragons.

The weather was still nice, we had a decent walk down to the pier and back again so decided to head back home where I watched England beat Denmark 2-1 after a dodgy penalty decision in England's favour.

Day 3 - Leongatha and Inverloch

Decided to head to Wilson's Promontory, got up at 08:00, showered and breakfasted by 09:00 and ready to go. Then waited for Song to get ready and finally left at 10:15 after dumping the dog with the neighbours.

Drove towards Wilson's Prom, decided to stop for lunch at Leongatha. Went to a place called The Rusty Windmill, the menu was limited but opted for the BLAT (Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado and Tomato) and a Bacon and Egg Panini with blue cheese and plum sauce. We had half of each, each. 

They were really good, would recommend.

Decided that since it was already around 14:00 and Wilson's Prom was still a good hour and a half away, we would head back via Inverloch, neither of us had been there before. 

The weather was decent, cold but mostly sunny, and we walked along the beach for a while, a few other families were pottering about as well as a few anglers.

Headed home, the sky was turning orange so decided to go via the beach to see the sunset, which was a good decision, we stopped off at Edithvale and walked along the beach, one or two people had the same idea. The city was in the distance bathed in orange and the clouds were starting to turn red. The sun dipped below the clouds and started to set over the sea, it was really spectacular, a bright red ball. Stood there for a while as it disappeared, the waves gently lapping on the shore and the clouds a bright red. 

Back home. 

Day 2 - Walking and Shopping

Went for a long walk, then back home for lunch. 

Off to Chadstone, Song decided she wanted a new down coat to add to her collection. Went to Columbia, North Face, Kathmandu, Uniqolo. Tried on every coat they had. 

Back to Kathmandu and bought a jacket, tried on a coat but only had her size in green, so off to the Chapel Street branch to get one in black. 

While we were out I got some notifications that my devices were offline, then an SMS from TPG saying the NBN was out in my area so didn't need to rush home.

Got home, internet still out so used my phone as a hotspot.

Tomorrow we might drive to Lakes Entrance and back, depends on the weather.

We're also considering Tasmania instead of Queensland due to the cases up there.

Day 1 - Stayed home

Got up late, spent most of the day at home, weather was cold. Went for a long walk to Balaclava to get some coffee for home, then stayed home and watched the Grand Prix and some TV downloads - sometimes just chilling is nice.

Might go on a day trip tomorrow, or might just go to Chadstone and have a potter since we haven't been there for a while what with one thing and another.

Went out for dinner, haven't done that for a long time, Superbowl Pho in Richmond.

Travel in the Pandemic (or rather, the lack of)

So here we are in 2021, and assuming we are not all wiped out with a new variant, I may read this in 10 years and remember what fun it was. 

We didn't get to travel at all in 2020, I just took some leave and stayed at home, did some day trips.

In March 2021 we booked a weekend in Halls Gap, but then had to cancel due to a lockdown.

In April 2021 we planned a 2-week trip driving up to Canberra and then down the NSW coast. We had to cancel that due to storms which caused flooding and closed roads. We did get to Halls Gap for a few days.

I now have long service leave again, so we'd planned to drive up to Queensland and then back down the coast. And of course there was a Covid outbreak everywhere so we had to cancel that.

It is now the first weekend of my leave, the States are slowly opening up so we may still get away. 

I will blog, but it will probably be more of a diary of where we went, as a reminder, rather than my usual wry observations on foreign locales and customs.