My last post was a jumbled mish-mash of dates and events which probably accurately reflects the jumbled mish-mash of a brain that has been through two-and-a-half weeks of isolation, illness, bed swapping, plan changing, caring for sick kids, and I'm too tired to remember what else.
Crystal and Felicity and Sarah tested positive on the 23rd and finally Toby a few days later. Once we had rescheduled (again) our flight to Australia for June 4th we knew we had a clear week after everyone except Toby would be “released”. We decided to let our hosts have their lives back and found an Airbnb by the sea in Paekakariki, 45 minutes up the coast.
 |
| A rare break in the rain to enjoy the view from the deck |
I’ve heard several people say that COVID is not to be messed with but I’ve also heard that it can be a mild illness, especially if you’re fully vaccinated. After a few days of cold like symptoms and then a couple of nights of fever I thought I was done. When Sarah and Crystal went down with it I was feeling pretty good and so Matt and I pretty much took over running the show. I even went for a gentle jog a couple of days later. Then the second wave came with constant congestion, bad sleep and tiredness. I eventually went to the doctor who thought it was likely a post COVID bacterial infection. It’s felt like a long road and a messy struggle once everyone was either in the throes or at some stage of recovery. Of course, a lot of people have had it a lot worse, but still...
 |
| All hands on deck to keep this house ship shape |
 |
| Even Maisy got in on the action (yes, that is a replica toy Dyson) |
 |
| Felicity took to cleaning the windows while Toby worked on fixing the bbq's new regulator |
 |
Rose and Toby consider the situation
|
 |
There will always be a fort
|
 |
Memories or a memorable time
|
 |
| A rag tag bunch of covid survivors on leaving day |
After pretty darn nice weather in Wellington our break by the ocean was dominated by torrential rain, high winds, stormy seas and even two tornadoes a few kilometres up the coast. Generally we were quite ok with being confined and resting with a few walks around the village. But if I’m honest the persistent sickness, lack of exercise and probably the weather, as well as the disruption to our plans, all took its toll on my mental health. Because of the late opening of Australia and New Zealand we already had a compressed schedule. We have had to say goodbye to any more of the North island as well as our Whitsundays sailing trip and the Cairns visit. Still so much to be grateful for and a reminder that illness and disruption are very much part of traveling and part of the life learning that goes with it.
 |
This yoga ball got a lot a action during our stay in Paekakariki
|
 |
We tried to make this 500 piece puzzle last but it was all done before the end of day 3
|
 |
Fort, Paekakariki
|
 |
The beautiful Paekakariki coastline including blue ski
|
 |
| We were ready to walk a few hundred metres up Ocean Road if disaster struck |
 |
Eels in Queen Elizabeth Park
|
 |
| It was good once we could use the play structures again |
So we here we are now, in the skies again on our way from Melbourne to Brisbane. We managed to get a visit to Te Papa, the climbing wall, the Wellington cable car and the glow worms in the dark of the Botanical gardens on Friday. We said goodbye to our friends at the Island Bay playground on Saturday and flew to Melbourne in the evening. We spent an hour waiting for a working air bridge when we arrived, had a short night at the Quality Hotel, a brush with a cancelled 0625 Melbourne-Brisbane, got on a replacement less than hour later, and are keeping our fingers crossed to get going on our K’Gari (Fraser Island) adventure tomorrow. It feels good to be on the move again.
 |
| The life size model of a blue whale's heart |
 |
Ferg's climbing gym
|
 |
Drive on
|
 |
About halfway down to the right hand side you can make out a glow worm. We saw many in the Wellington botanical gardens which was fun to walk through in the pitch dark
|
 |
| On the way back down |
 |
Cool light show in the cable car tunnels
|
 |
| The growly hair thing by way of a send off |
Comments