We're back on the road again (at last!)

Our lives in Canberra returned to (almost) normal last Friday with the removal of mandated mask wearing (with a few exceptions) and getting back to the 2sq metre per person rule in all hospitality venues - yay!. Ella and Abi both started back at school two weeks ago - although poor Ella was deemed a close contact of a COVID case at her Gym and had to go into quarantine, three days after school started. That was so hard!! So we're not free quite yet, it seems.

Anyway, we hit the road again last Friday, after a long COVID inflicted break, down to the south coast, via Cooma and Brown Mountain, to beautiful Mystery Bay, not far from Tilba Tilba on the Eurobodalla Coast. We knew the weather was going to be cold, windy and wet, but we didn't let that stop us. 

This was our first view of the beach at Mystery Bay on that cold and windy Friday afternoon ......

We were lucky to be invited by Rod to share a few days with him at his friend's beach house at Mystery Bay. It was a first time visit for all of us to this part of the coast and we felt very lucky to be invited, on many counts: just to go on a road trip to the beach in these "unprecedented times" feels special enough, and to find an available beach house to stay in is a privilege too - and to share it with family we haven't got to see enough of over the past few months is just wonderful too!! Niece Claire and Peter were also able to join us for our long weekend at Mystery Bay - which made it extra special too .......

We took these windswept portraits on Saturday afternoon at Narooma (about 15 klm north of Mystery Bay). It rained heavily most of Saturday - but it cleared enough by late afternoon for us to do a bit of sightseeing in the region.

Looking north to Kianga Beach and the Narooma Bar (entry to Wagonga Inlet from the Tasman Sea).

The swell was pretty big this weekend (around 4 metres at times!).

and looking south (with Monatgue Island on the horizon)...

The Narooma Bar came complete with a pair of photogenic fur seals .......

and the very Instagrammable "Australia Rock" ........

Rob took this close up of some very surreal flora on the walk down to the Bar (as in the marine Bar not the the alcoholic one).

Sunday dawned clear and sunny - if a little cool. We spent most of the morning enjoying Mystery Bay's spectacular beach.

The distinctive rock formations on the beach frame the views in a spectacular way!

And Montague Island (with its large fur seal population and clearly visible light house) looks quite close to us here at Mystery Bay.

We worked hard to get a close up shot of this "mysterious" cave at the northern end of the beach ....

Rod's friend's house was very comfortable for the five of us. We particularly liked the view out of the front windows - across the road to the forest (the edge of the Eurobodalla National Park).

Landscape with wine bottles .....

But the view from the back deck had a lot to recommend it too!

Sunday afternoon we walked north along the coast, through the really extensive camping grounds (one of the few remaining freestyle bush campsites remaining on the NSW coast) until we came to beautiful Billy's Beach, practically deserted by late Sunday afternoon .....

This morning we had time for one last walk along the beach in this beautiful place, before returning to Canberra.

COVID has taught us that there are so many wonderful places to explore in our own backyard. We plan to return to this one!!

 

Lockdown birthday

Celebrating a birthday in lockdown can be a challenge. But I was super lucky to have Canberra's COVID restrictions eased a little bit (as of midnight last Thursday) so we could celebrate my birthday is style! We're now allowed two visitors per household, yippee!!!

I think this milestone birthday of mine (yikes i am 70 already!!) will actually be quite a "festival of the birthday". It started when we could visit the girls AT THEIR HOUSE on Friday and I could witness the conclusion of the great cake baking/icing effort. This was all Ella's work - a two layered chocolate cake, in sugar syrup and butter cream with a final layer of my favourite marzipan icing. Abi helped with the icing project which incorporated beautiful handmade plant and flower decorations. It was a triumph!

And for the duration of the operation, Jody dealt with the spread of icing and sugar syrup throughout this end of the house, which was quite heroic of her.

And the best part..........

To prove how versatile she is Ella finished her baking and straightaway got changed for her zoom Gymnastics class. Today's theme was "monochrome", and this was how Ella prepared for it. These grand-daughters of mine are absolute characters!

The cake was the star turn at my birthday dinner with Josh and Jody and the girls last night - it looked and tasted wonderful!

This pair made it the best night for us - with lots of love and laughter, beautiful food - and the best entertainment (including a quiz about the 50s) on offer anywhere in Canberra!

Abi is always there for the flames and the sharp knives (and she cuts a mean slice of cake!).

My birthday morning started more sedately but extremely stylishly with our friends Jeni and Des. Last week, when we all heard about restrictions easing Jeni got in and invited us over for a celebratory breakfast. Jen is the queen of style and colour coordination and had everything looking beautiful for us in their brand new luxury kitchen

We enjoyed breakfast bubbles, more laughter and a heartfelt appreciation for being able to be in each other's company again after the long weeks of lockdown...

Its also been a flower filled few days, with the most beautiful bunches arriving from dear friends interstate .......

.. and Rob's beautiful delivery too ........

and more ........

I am actually feeling overwhelmed with the love and care everyone has shown, making this milestone birthday so special - in these lockdown conditions, when there are so many things we can't do and so many special people we can't be with.

It felt calming and reflective this morning to have a wander around Commonwealth Park in amongst the cancelled Floriade beds as we caught up on the week's news with Rod and enjoyed a coffee afterwards in our Hassett Park. Even in lockdown, our Canberra is such a beautiful city.

 

Another week

Ok, so its 7 weeks we've been in lockdown now - but there's an end in sight - two more weeks and things will start to ease up a bit here in Canberra. We'll even be able to get haircuts yay!

And there's even a few little bonuses from midnight tonight: we'll be able to have two visitors at our homes and spend 4 hours in outdoor recreation. We can even give our local parks a break as our national parks and reserves are opening up too.

But for the past week or so of school holidays we've just been doing more of the same, same same - hours spent in our local parks with the girls and picnic lunches to break up the routine. Lots of fun actually - we're lucky to have seen so much of the girls.

We've spent hours and hours at Fadden Pines Park - its got the best equipment (and great BMX tracks).

Ella amazes all onlookers when she makes it up to the top of this flagpole (it takes a lot of strength and technique!)

This tree on Gowrie Oval is a real attraction too - a grand old eucalypt; how many years has it seen?

Abi's learning how high she can climb ....

There are spring bulbs popping up everywhere too - another lockdown joy. Abi liked the way these tulips matched her new mask.

Last week's picnic lunch together was in Weston Park. We found a sheltered spot down near the lake edge, a bit protected from that day's fierce winds

Abi's new slime package was a bit of a distraction for her ....

This weeks' lunch spot was in our Hassett Park - along with all the local children, pet dogs and other picnickers. This park has been a godsend in lockdown for all us Campbell apartment dwellers. At the weekends it has hundreds of people in it, mostly having picnics and supporting our local coffee and wine bars, the bakery and the pub - all offering takeaway now. Even when lockdown is finished it would be great to see people using the park this way even more.

And a big tick from these two for the gi-normous donut and caramel slice Rob bought them from one of the local cafe/bakeries!

Six weeks in

We will have done 6 weeks of lockdown tomorrow - so only three more to go (maybe??). So far daily COVID case numbers  have stayed pretty static in Canberra - not increasing, but not reducing much either, unfortunately. Our city has the highest double vaccination rate in Australia (over 50% of eligible population) and at least 80% of all over 12 year olds have had at least a single dose . So we're getting there - go Ken Berhens!

Over the past few weeks we've got into a lockdown routine that keeps us busy, keeps us fit and well and brings us lots of happy times with Ella and Abi, and a few friends and neighbours as well.

We continue to take the girls to the park a couple of afternoons a week, as a break from their school at home work. Its a treasured time for us - how lucky are we to have the girls so enthusiastic about going to the same old park every second afternoon in the company of their grand-parents (a definite silver lining of lockdown for us!). The girls even seem keen to do this with us even now they're in school holiday mode (although school holidays in lockdown mode are a bit of a non-event really).

We saw this mob of kangaroos on the way to the park yesterday afternoon - in the reserve just over the road from J & J's house). Its probably been a good breeding season for kangaroos with all the rain we've had. Abi was impressed.

Another nice routine we've started is to do a walk and picnic lunch each week with our friends Judy and Jurgen. So far we've walked the lake and lunched on Aspen island, walked Weston Park and lunched by the lake - and yesterday we met at Canberra's Arboretum, doing the scenic Dairy Farmers Hill walk and then lunching at possibly the most scenic spot in Canberra, right at the top of the hill. We usually walk with Judy and Jurgen's doggies, Charlie and Poppy. Charlie came on his own yesterday and I volunteered to be the dog walker (I really like Charlie), but I did  battle to keep him "on track" given the excitement of being outdoors with all those sights and sounds and birds everywhere.....

Canberra looked beautiful from here - the only distraction being the icy wind gusts coming straight off the snowfields south of Canberra..

This picnic lunch up on Dairy Farmers Hill was the most scenic so far, we decided - and complete with a stunning sculptural piece too. We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful city - and all of this within the recommended 5klms of where we live!

And to continue my lockdown sustainable sewing project journey. I cut up a few of Rob's old linen shirts (cutting off the worn bits!) and sewed them into a new summer top for me - a design I made up myself! I'm pretty pleased with it!

Next lockdown project might have to be working out how to do a hair trim???