November 2020 – great life

Yeah! We can get away in freedom and take to the highways and beaches of Australia in our chosen alternative to our home in the Yarra Valley.

It’s probably fair to say, that many grandparents have either made a bee-line to, or made arrangements to, visit their grandchildren in the first week of lockdown freedom. Our grandkids and son and daughter-in-law, have been in semi-lockdown in Geelong which has had less severe restrictions than metro-Melbourne. However, within 12 hours of the lifting of the restrictions, we were making our way toward Geelong. We had washed and polished the motor home two weeks before; we just had to “fill the fridge” and load the clothes and we were on our way. Our first task was the “grand parents task” of collecting two of the kids from school and transporting them to netball, before we could be introduced to their new house of abode which they had moved into a month before.

We had gone to Geelong to also have a repair job done on our generator. We’ve had an intermittent leak coming from the generator area which showed up a little while after switching it on to use for the microwave or air conditioner. Friends directed us to a European Affair mechanic and we now have an extra fuel filter on the breather line. Hopefully all good for free camping in the future.

From Geelong, it’s just a short drive to Portarlington. We had chosen a “right on the coast” site as we couldn’t get the site we wanted at Barwon Heads Campground for 10 days starting on the Friday. Portarlington doesn’t seem to be loaded with vegetation and rather baron. Apparently, the fishing is good if ever you’re interested. There is a fast catamaran that travels to dock lands in Melbourne a few times a day.

Barwon Heads is out towards the coast from Portarlington, just 30-40 minutes away. With the first weekend after Melbourne’s extended state of lockdown, the town became super busy over Saturday and Sunday. Lyn’s sister and husband Rod came down on Saturday to check out the town too. They were both impressed. Our son Jay and his wife and family came down from Geelong for a few hours in the afternoon.

Sunday’s weather forecast was to be 34 degrees. We took some time at the beach but left early afternoon as the wind came, blowing up sand and turning sour for the rest of the day.

Monday was a bit on the “not a beach day” category. Being in a laid back lifestyle, allows breakfast to happen even after 10am. We manage to fulfil that criteria perfectly. It was 1pm when we ventured out to the hardware shop to pick up some silicon to clean up the slide on the toilet canister. Nothing like struggling at 1:00am to pull out the slide locker. Hey, after so many months in lockdown, the drains also needed some draino work to free up the drainage pipes.

Time for another beach walk in the late afternoon. There’s plenty of walking space here when the tide is out. Yes, we still wear masks on walks – it’s the law in Covictoria. It’s also very clear that the mandatory use of them in the state has been a weapon for the reduction of the Covid-19 virus. That and the lockdown have been a saviour to our future really. (Sorry all you anti-maskers – will NOT agree with your opposition to the use of them).