2020 wrap-up

In the confusing early days of the pandemic, my little family was staying in a small AirBnB apartment in Sydney, trying to come to terms with having moved to this side of the world. Every surface in the apartment was filled with potplants, from which cockroaches emerged at dusk to fearlessly reign over the house during the night hours. It seemed to rain a lot and it was a restless time.

We started setting up for life in Sydney. We bought a car and spent our weekends looking at possible flats to rent. Then it became clear that the pandemic was coming: there were virus cases in Sydney, then local transmission; the borders were shutting. We couldn’t buy hand sanitiser anywhere. I queued at opening time at the local Woolies to get a few rolls of loo paper. Australian states were considering shutting their borders - who ever heard of such a thing? Our shipment from Switzerland was in the country but not yet cleared by customs. We didn’t know whether moving company deliveries would be shut down and leave our shipment in limbo. The owners of our AirBnB were coming home early from overseas. With time short to find somewhere to stay we decided to go to Canberra until the situation settled. We packed our new car with everything we had with us and drove in the pouring rain to Canberra, quarantined ourselves for two weeks in yet another temporary flat, and then went to stay in my childhood home.

“Until the situation settled” ended up meaning seven months. The winter came and went and, thanks to science-led government policies, strict lockdowns, lots of community engagement, and a great deal of luck and hard work and patience, virus outbreaks in Australia were brought under control. In Canberra there continues to have been no community transmission at any point. I am so very grateful to have seen out 2020 in Australia and proud of what we accomplished here.

In spring we returned to Sydney for a two day trip, during which we managed to rent a great apartment. And in October we moved here and restarted the new-city adventure we thought we were beginning in March. Sydney is a stunning place, and we are now enjoying exploring our new home. Here are some photos from the strange and scary year that was 2020.

Keeping in touch with family in New Zealand.

The Australian National Botanic Gardens is a favourite spot to go.

Kangaroo paws at the botanic gardens in Canberra.

The Australian National University in pandemic mode.

Winter views over Canberra (in cloud) from Mt Coree.

Namadgi National Park is (again) heavily fire affected.

The view from Square Rock on a sunny winter’s day.

On a short walk to Mt Aggie on the ACT/NSW border.

The Royal National Park

Five years