Stalled…

August 3rd 2021. Lennox Head, Bundjalung country.

Here we are still, stuck at the starting post, all dressed up with no-where to go. We wanted to leave next week. I always knew we had to expect the unexpected, and flexibility was important, but now I find I am shut in at home, isolating because I visited Brisbane last week. Our NSW/Gold Coast bubble is suffering from it’s close proximity to Brisbane where the Delta strain of covid cases is running amuck through the community.

But I don’t want this blog to be a whinge. It inevitably has to reflect the state of play in our nation, but I am determined to look for the positives and write an uplifting piece.

So, Swifty sits over-lighted by a brilliant rainbow, in the front garden. She is ready for the big adventure, as are we.

All borders out of NSW are closed to us. Our aim to reach Victoria by early September looks doubtful, but if a miracle happens, we’ll hook up and get there. Heading south is still our aim, then west to WA. That border seems impenetrable at the moment, but we live in hope.

In the meantime, we love and enjoy where we live, which truely is paradise. Daily walks along the coastal paths are blessed with whale sitings. The air is feeling more Spring-like. We currently have the Tokyo Olympics to keep us amused if need be and there are plenty of good books to read. Enjoying the company of a few friends, no more than five at a time, lifts our spirits. Cafes and restaurants still make scrumptious food, the shops, cinemas and galleries are open to us, as long as we are masked, sanitised and QR coded. How lucky are we!!

But sitting around wallowing in our lucky life isn’t as satisfying as people imagine, especially when you’ve had plans and they get thwarted. Mind you, I don’t know anyone who hasn’t had to sacrifice a longed for trip…overseas and in Australia. The amount of travel credits tucked into the travel agent’s drawers, must be enormous. Equally, how many of us are now writing off those credits as too hard to fulfil. And now, making future plans seems too risky.

So we decided on a whim, while we could do it, that we’d hook on Swifty and head for the closest National Park for a few days in the bush. Three other couples joined us.

BUNDJALUNG NATIONAL PARK. Black Rocks campground & Jerusalem Creek.

By the saturday morning, we’d gathered food and friends, and headed down the highway, meeting at New Italy for morning tea. The forecast was lovely, the sky was a deep blue and our spirits were high. Arriving at Black Rocks along the Gap Road gravel track, we saw a bushland full of grass-trees, their tall seedy spikes towering above the scrub, their fine leafy skirts and black charred stumps surrounded by banksias, wattles and small flowering shrubs. This was my type of country. I needed to immerse in a flowering, regenerating wilderness, much of it recovering sensationally after the 2019 bushfires. Looking deeper into the scrub, small wildflowers showed themselves, especially the vibrant purple chocolate lilies, named because of their scent, not their taste.

The camping ground is tucked behind the sand dunes in such dense bush that you could barely see your closest neighbours. But they could be heard. Saturday night was rich with drumming sounds from the many European/South American young people who had gathered to camp together. They respectfully stopped well before midnight. How enjoyable to listen to live music instead of ghetto blasters. On sunday morning they packed up the white vans with their yoga mats, drums, tents and mattresses, leaving no traces of their beautiful night.

We launched our 8 kayaks into Jerusalem Creek early, before the wind rippled the water and the sun became too hot. It was a glorious 9.2km paddle to the mouth of the creek, where we beached the boats. Thermos’ of tea and homemade cake filled our bellies and souls as we sat perched on a wooden seat overlooking the crystalline topaz blue ocean. It’s the simplest things that are the most enjoyable. And laughing with friends, sharing a campfire, a meal and a few drinks tops off the experience.

Plans were made for the next couple of days. More kayaking at another National Park further south. But by mid-afternoon on sunday, the unexpected happened. Queensland had lost control of it’s covid outbreaks, locking the border and requiring those who’d been there in the past 2 weeks to go into isolation. There were some of us who’d been there recently, visiting grandchildren, taking medical appointments. This camp was dismantling already. By sunday night, only 4 of us were left. Slowly we packed up Swifty on monday morning, feeling a bit deflated, but also invigorated by the 2 days we had managed to grab out of this mess called a pandemic.

Andrew said to me at the camp: “Can you see how your blog will become a record of the pandemic?” I know he’s right, there’s a sense that our journey, in the early stages at least, will be stop/start, with unforeseen adjustments needing to be made constantly to meet the vagaries of this pandemic.

Don’t even ask about renting out our house. That’s another stalled episode. It will happen but we don’t know when.

Who can even guess what the next blog will bring.

Until then, stay safe everyone.. get vaccinated.. see you soon WA family, we hope.

Jenny & Nick & Swifty.