On The Road Again

Another trip, another covid-19 update...

Previously, ...on "Albany Trips Derailed By Covid"...we had our Queensland trip cut short due to an outbreak in NSW. Fast forward 6 months to today, the NSW delta variant outbreak had spread to Victoria and ACT, thousands have been infected, hundreds have unfortunately died, but as a result, we now have an excellent vaccination rate in Australia and the country has abandoned a covid-zero strategy. However, states within Australia have been fragmented, with tensions high between "Covid' states and those who have been "covid free". International borders are open to Australians in half the country but we are still unable to travel freely within Australia. In short, the country is a mess. And just when you think you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, enter Omicron! Curse you new variant...

We had cancelled our December trip to Singapore and Thailand in the face of so much uncertainty and so we find ourselves on the road again exploring the great state of NSW. Curse you Delta. Lara now can't come because her piano exam had to be rescheduled thanks to an unvaccinated child submitting a false vaccine certificate. Curse you covidiots. Hopefully, our planned trip to South Australia to watch the test cricket between England and Australia won't be affected by a nervous South Australian government. Fingers crossed...

It felt rather odd leaving Lara behind in the morning, but she seemed happy and relaxed with Moose and so off we went, for our traditional McDonald's breakfast on the road. We didn't quite manage to follow through on the "leave before light" tradition, due to too many Christmas parties on the day before! It was an achievement to have packed, load the car and tidy the house by 8:30am! We didn't quite bring the whole house this time around but somehow still managed to bring a lot of STUFF!!

Our first stop, to buy MORE stuff. Specifically, we had to buy more remotes for the Nintendo switch, as it was one of our rainy day contingencies, and the chance of rain was very high. Curse you La Nina. With the most important "to-do" of the day ticked off, we made our way to visit my Uncle Andrew near Wollongong. It has been a while since we have seen him, and the first time since his diagnosis of bowel cancer in June. Curse you cancer! My parents had driven down earlier to spend more time with them and deliver them Indonesian food from Sydney. 

It was great to see Oom Andrew in good spirits and good physical health. It was also nice to have Tante Chiko cook us Japanese food. Yum! We scoffed down our lunch, sipped and learnt about hojicha, and enjoyed apple pie biscuits from Coles. Can't get better than that!

Visiting Oom Andrew and Tante Chiko 

Along with my parents, we continued our drive down towards Shoalhaven Heads. We last came in winter and thought it would be a good place to return to in the summer. Fortunately, we had booked a house on Stayz well before the heated local accommodation booking craze, and the resulting price hikes. The rental was comfortable, had enough space for the extended family, looked as advertised, and was close to the accommodation of our friends, the Ongs. Elliot and Jonah made a bee-line for the skate park as soon as we arrived, making the most of the break in the rain.

Loving our new wagon! Courtesy of Nana and Grandpa. Awesome big wheels, great manoeuvrability, and takes 100kg!

Simple but clean and modern

Big backyard with fire pit. Moose would have loved it.

Excellent local skate park

We dined with the Ongs at their holiday rental on local fish and chips. The adults had wine and rocky road, the kids had nintendo time, and all was well with the world. We had to make the best of the situation. The forecast, unfortunately, for the upcoming days was rain, rain and more rain. For good measure, throw in a bit of cold, and then just to make sure...more rain. It was rather a shame, as we were right by Seven Mile Beach, a most beautiful and long stretch of beach. After a few messages to Lara to make sure she was ok, we settled in and called it a day.