Family travel

Posted on by Greta

It’s been a while since I last published a post because, well, I guess I’ve been busy.

We welcomed our daughter in September 2023 and have been enjoying the whirlwind of having two kids ever since.

Life is hectic but fun and it is so special watching our kids play together, smile and interact. But I can understand how different life can be depending on the order of your birth.

The first born may be used to their parents undivided attention. They have to learn to share this when a sibling comes along, which is a huge step. But they soon understand that there is someone new to play with and they now have a buddy of a similar age to enjoy life with.

And who doesn’t enjoy life when on holiday? After a few holidays as a family of four, we are getting used to preparing and managing to fit everything we need into a few bags. We do this by limiting the amount of clothing we bring and coming to terms with the thought of doing more than one load of washing while we’re away, a we did on a recent trip to Noosa, Australia.

Some of our must pack travel items include:

  • Baby carrier

This came in really handy at the airport. Transporting our then 8 month old while checking in and getting through security and to the gate was much easier because I had her in a carrier. While on holiday, if we wanted to get out of the door with minimal fuss or for a quick family walk, I would put on the carrier and away we would go. My daughter is old enough to be facing outwards now, and I guess it kind of feels like she’s flying, and she loves this.

  • Food

We always made sure we packed plenty of snacks! These included cut up fruit, fruit bars, wholemeal rolls with vegemite or avocado and our sons favourite: crackers of any kind. After we had checked in and had a chance to go to the supermarket I steamed a bunch of vegetables and brought these on day trips for our daughter to nibble on. Kids meals at restaurants are not always the most nutritious so we tried to give the kids something for dinner before we went out. Some easy to prepare holiday meals for kids include vegetable and mince pasta and vegetable and egg fried rice.

  • Yoga mat

If you have a baby who isn’t walking yet, a yoga mat is a great option for floor play while away. Our daughter spent much of her spare time in the apartment on the yoga mat, strengthening her muscles by holding herself up, sitting and playing with toys as she did so. If your baby is prone to toppling over like ours, it is a good idea to put some cushions behind their head in case of a fall.

  • Plenty of underwear and nappies

Toileting does not always go to plan on holidays. Our toddler is toilet trained (mostly) and our baby is still in nappies but we find that when kids are away from their usual surroundings, or if they are feeling a bit off, they are more likely to have accidents. Luckily we had a washing machine in our apartment, and air drying clothes didn’t take too long. When it comes to nappies I like to pack half in the kids carry on bag and half in their checked in bag and only buy extra while away if needed.

So if you have an upcoming trip with a baby and toddler, pack these items to ensure your holiday is off to a good start but remember, anything can happen!

We are going on an overseas trip towards the end of the year so will see how this goes! I am mentally preparing myself for the craziness already and I will be sure to share any tips I have afterwards or any useful knowledge in the meantime.

Responding with a smile

Posted on by Greta

A few months ago, our son turned one and entered the next stage of his life, toddlerhood.

The changes have been coming fast. Whether it’s physical or emotional or intellectual, there are so many different things going on each day it can be hard to keep up!

I love watching him explore and discover how things work or fit together. Whether it’s something in the kitchen cupboard, a different way to use one of his toys or a musical instrument, he is always figuring out something new, and it can be fascinating to watch.

I started back at work around the same time as his first birthday, working a small number of hours per week. It’s been good to reconnect, although I can’t ever imagine being full time again. There is nothing better than spending time with our son; reading, playing, singing, eating or having fun outside. By the time he has had one or two naps and some days an activity, the day is full and he is ready for bed again. There is not a lot of time for work!

The art of distraction

And just as I was getting used to my sons demand for food, he turned into a somewhat fussy eater with less of an appetite. Apparently, this is what happens as their growing starts to slow. My ways around this are smaller portions, always having a ripe avocado and some cheese on hand or distracting him with water or milk if I have to.

Nappy change time and even just getting dressed can also be a challenge. I make sure I have a box of sensory objects nearby so that he can keep himself busy playing with a bottle full of rice or a potato masher. I try to sing to him and explain what I’m doing but depending on his mood this doesn’t always go down so well.

The transition to one daytime nap is an interesting one. Especially when your toddler shows signs of tiredness in the early afternoon after only a small sleep in the morning but refuses to go down for a decent chunk of time. I don’t think he’s ready to skip his morning nap altogether, so I have been persisting with it for now. I have found that a snack before his morning sleep often makes a difference which would suggest a full belly means he finds it easier to link one sleep cycle to the next but it doesn’t always work like this. Every day brings something different and even at 15 months, we are not quite at the one nap stage yet.

New places

Luckily, our son seems to adjust pretty well to most situations.

It makes me wonder how he will go on a trip overseas. After a couple of years of holidays limited to Australia, we are almost ready to travel abroad again. We’re not planning on venturing too far away just yet, perhaps New Zealand, but the thought of doing it as a family is exciting. Our son loves being exposed to new things and different people, and I can’t wait for him to experience another country. Travel is said to significantly impact a child’s development with them experiencing new things – from people to places to food – at a rapid rate.

I love watching our son react and learn. He generally chooses to take his time with things, appreciating his surroundings then responding (most of the time) with a smile.

In a world that is constantly changing, the way we absorb information and choose to react can have a huge impact on our daily lives, whether it is by watching and learning as toddlers do, or through some form of educated action. So next time you find yourself in a new place or situation try to take a moment to appreciate where you are and think of the possibilities that lie ahead.

If you’d like to share a story or can relate to anything in this post, I’d love to hear about it so please leave a comment!

The learning never stops

Posted on by Greta

I’ve been thinking a lot lately of change, almost as an extension of this post I wrote last year on adjusting to motherhood. Change is inevitable as a parent and no matter how much equipment you have, or how many instructional books you read, nothing can quite prepare you for the incredible impact a baby will have on your life. It is a time of learning like no other; and it never stops.

But even as things change, it is important to do what makes you and your family most happy and comfortable. Whether it’s sleeping, feeding, teething or overall growth and development, there is always something going on, and figuring it out is part of the journey.

The areas of change and learning I want to touch on in this post include baby needs, appetite, developmental milestones and the world of childcare.

  1. Baby needs: Routine versus demand

As I may have mentioned before, I am a routine kind of person, and after some research I learned how to make this work for my baby too. We are somewhat flexible in our routine and can adapt when we need to be somewhere at a certain time, but he is woken up at the same time each day and put to bed at roughly the same time, depending on how long he feeds for, which works extremely well for everyone in this household. As much as I admire those parents who leave their day (and night) entirely up to their baby, we learned early on that this wasn’t the best option for us.

2. A baby’s appetite

As a baby grows, they need less breastmilk/formula and when regular solids have been established, even less (although much more real food)! Now on his way to being eleven months old, my son is happily eating three meals and one snack and having four breastfeeds a day. I feel confident that his little belly is satisfied but the food preparation journey was quite a lot to get used to. My son quickly moved from purees to mashes and chewable foods and now I am constantly on the lookout for baby friendly recipes to try. I must admit now that I hav been doing it for a while, I do enjoy preparing his meals and coming up with a daily menu each night before I go to bed.

3. Developmental milestones

When a baby rolls, sleeps, walks, talks or behaves in a certain way, it is a huge deal. But as parents we need to remember that these milestones are times of change that occur at different stages for everyone. A friend’s baby may get their first tooth at 7 months when your child may not have had any come through at 10 months. A baby’s development is not something that fits into a routine or schedule. Rough timelines are available but there is no set age when a baby should be doing a particular thing, which is somewhat reassuring. There is absolutely no need to compare your baby to anyone else’s, as tempting as it may be.

4. Navigating the world of childcare

Navigating the world of childcare (and getting used to the idea that our baby will be away from us at some point!) can be difficult, especially if advice is coming from all directions. It may be important that you return to work or study for personal, professional or financial reasons but whatever it is, unless family help is available, some form of childcare will need to be considered. Making this decision can be tricky but remember that opportunities for socialisation and learning can be a good thing. Make sure you find out as much as you can by visiting a few centres and asking lots of questions so that you understand what they have to offer.

At every stage of your parenting journey, you are going to encounter change; big and small. The four areas I have discussed are currently relevant to me, but I know that there is so much more. As a takeaway, I want to emphasise the importance of responding to change by learning what works best for you and your family and remember that the learning really does never stop.

I realise I haven’t covered everything here so if you have something you’d like to add please leave a comment!

Adjusting to Motherhood

Posted on by Greta

I wrote about my start to living an eco-baby life a couple of months ago. It is still going really well, and I am continuing to pick up tips and tricks and apply them in my own way, as I adjust to my newfound role as a mother.

The journey of motherhood is one that never ends. Having someone that all of a sudden depends on you to survive can be a lot of pressure, and a lot to get used to. The feed, sleep, play cycle can get very repetitive and leave you with little time for anything else.

I was recently made aware of the term “Matrescence”, the developmental transition to motherhood; the idea of a mother being born. This thoughtful article by Lauren Hughes, a Child Health Nurse, explains the term is used to describe the emotional, physical, mental, social and psychological process a woman goes through when she becomes a mother. Lauren describes it as a “change that launches us into a new phase of life with an evolved and expanded sense of who we are.”

There is a lot going on in a mother’s life before, during and after pregnancy and so much to adapt to, as well as new concepts and rituals. Unfortunately a somewhat negative term that is commonly used as an excuse for apparent vagueness is “baby brain”, when the mother (or father) has a lot going on, and may be unable to find the words for adult conversation, or make questionable decisions.

Baby brain is a stereotype that new parents (including me) fall victim to. When I’m having a conversation and can’t find the words, it must be baby brain. When I forget to shut the front door behind me, it must be baby brain.

Stereotypes aside, a lot of mums might struggle with their new identity, or be confused and unsure where their old self has gone, as the term Matrescence acknowledges. There are books and other resources that focus on this topic in an effort to normalise it which can help us to recognise that people adapt in different ways, whether rational or not.

Right now I think it’s ever important to make time each day to do something for myself, even if it is for only 10 or 15 minutes. Time is so precious when you have a little one on your hands, and so much of it is spent helping them grow. Your priorities may have changed but you are still the same person.

As I watch my baby boy drifting in and out of sleep, I know that I wouldn’t change a thing. Seeing his eyes light up and his gummy grin as I read him a story, sing him a song or turn on his mobile is simply delightful. Life has certainly changed, and I am embracing everything that comes with this amazing adventure, while remembering to continue to do the things I enjoyed doing before, in smaller doses. Not because I have lost my sense of self but because I am not my main focus anymore.

Living the eco-baby life

Posted on by Greta

I know I said it would probably be a while before I published another blog post, but I have learned so much in the past month I couldn’t resist!

In an ideal world, many people would prefer a natural birth with no drugs or interference and a labour that is not particularly lengthy. This is what I also hoped for but as my due date grew closer, I was readying myself for anything.

After being told I may need to be induced early, something changed for me. I was ready and understood that the baby was ready to come out!

So, my birth didn’t start off going to plan but after being induced, having my waters broken and a couple of hours of contractions, out he came.

Our beautiful baby boy is now with us and we are loving every bit of the journey. We are learning so much every day, and instead of feeling constantly overwhelmed, we are enjoying it as much as we can and I am focusing on expanding my knowledge because there is just so much to learn!

Being the eco-conscious person that I endeavour to be, I ordered a bunch of both cloth nappies and biodegradable bamboo nappies before the birth. I had heard that cloth nappies weren’t the easiest on newborns, but I was keen to eventually give them a go and planned to use the bamboo nappies in the meantime.

After returning home from hospital, we got to work on our eco-baby routine. Bamboo nappies, check. Bamboo wipes, check. Biodegradable nappy bags, check. We were set and it felt really good. But I felt like I could do more, I mean I had enough cloth nappies for part time usage and a heap of old school terry towelling nappies too.

It’s like people tried to put me off, telling me cloth nappies aren’t easy, and that I wouldn’t last long using them, especially without a dryer. But I am pretty determined, and I don’t mind cleaning a bit of poop here and there. The biggest issue I am having at the moment is with the fit. Once he is a bit bigger I think I will find them more useful and won’t need to change the sheets so frequently! But I have decided that a little bit of extra water usage in the interim is better than a mountain of waste that will take a lifetime to break down. I know that even biodegradable nappies take a while to break down, but their environmental footprint is better than that of non-biodegradable nappies.

I have also been researching the best chemical free or chemically reduced options for things like nappy rash, sunscreen etc and have been asking anyone with a child what they did. I am now using paw paw ointment as barrier cream for nappy rash, which seems to be working well. Apparently nappy rash will be an issue with cloth nappies, due to moisture build up so I make sure I lather it on at least once a day!

I had to order of a different type of (still Australian made) biodegradable nappies, as the ones I started using decided to start leaking occasionally too. These new ones I have ordered claim to have a high absorbency and have been pretty good so far.

This is my life now and I am loving it! It has been such an important time of learning and we love watching our baby as he takes in the world and responds differently every day.

If anyone has anything they want to share, please leave a comment!

A brighter future

Posted on by Greta

This month has just been one of those months, you know? Where you feel like you have no time for anything and are constantly exhausted, no matter how many hours of sleep you get each night. Despite my apparent lack of time, there were a few things that caught my attention.

Cruising in the wrong direction

I recently read about the crazy amount of damage the cruise industry has on our planet. Seems obvious that these vessels carrying thousands of people with seemingly endless options for food and entertainment contribute overwhelmingly to carbon emissions but it still came as a bit of a shock to read about.

I can’t find the exact article now, but I even read that going out to the deck of one of these ships has the same affect as being on a busy, polluted city street! Which makes it all the more confusing that people actually go on these kinds of trips for a relaxing break to ‘get away from it all’.

This got me thinking about what future holidaying might look like.

I am hoping far less cruises will be available, and realistically as the world recovers from a pandemic, I doubt the industry will be coming back to popularity the way it was before.

There tend to be 2 types of people when it comes to cruises; the cruise devotees and the people who would not be caught dead on a cruise ship. But it isn’t often you hear of the environmentally conscious…

And with a leader like ours, I guess this makes sense.

Leadership woes

At the recent Biden Climate Summit, while many committed to a new global emissions target of a reduction in 50-52% by 2030, PM Scott Morrison explained that Australia is aiming for a mere 26-28% reduction in this time.

Why can’t we commit to matching the targets of other countries? Is it fear of failure? Surely an attempt at doing the right thing is better than having a comparatively low target? Give us something to strive towards!

Holidaying local

As many Australians are encouraged to holiday here this year, a campaign brought on by the late 2019 early 2020 bushfires, we can only imagine the reduction in global emissions encouraged, with frivolous Australian travellers being restricted.

Don’t get me wrong, I certainly am excited to travel again both within Australia (we have some trips planned already!) and one day internationally again but I also have something a bit bigger coming my way that might make travelling… interesting.

Next month our family of three (me, my husband and our dog) will become four! We are super excited!

Saying that, I like to think that I’ll be able to maintain the once a month posting frequency I have upheld over the past year for my blog but in all truth, I am yet to know exactly what’s coming for me. Maybe I will find time but maybe this is unlikely for the first 3 months or so.

So if you don’t hear from me until the second half of the year, don’t fret! Just understand that I am most likely experiencing sleep withdrawals and enjoying time with my new bub, perhaps while sipping coffee and pondering about the world…

I’ll be in touch 🙂

Making room for the bigger things

Posted on by Greta

If you’ve ever given much thought to ‘Life’s big decisions’ and our possible thought processes behind them, you will realise that they consume a lot of time and energy and often leave us feeling blurgh.

Whether it’s buying a house, deciding to have a baby, embarking on a new career or breaking free of contact with someone who you no longer feel very close to, the level of extremeness for each of these decisions differs greatly from person to person, and this article from the Conversation AU looks into possible reasons for this, and also looks into reasons behind regret.

Sometimes even the smallest decisions are difficult. Maybe you ordered something online and it wasn’t quite what you had hoped for when you received it? Do you send it back or adjust whatever you had planned to use it for to suit accordingly? If there are free returns, this can be an easy choice, but what if there aren’t or if you only have a limited time to make a choice?

Whether we realise it or not, these small life decisions can have a big impact on us and take up a lot of space in our minds.

I have heard of many situations of people trying to limit the number of decisions they make each day, which is an interesting idea in itself. Take Mark Zuckerberg for example; he wears the same outfit every day so that he doesn’t have to think about what he should wear each morning. Seems a bit strange, but upon further thought it actually makes a lot of sense!

By clearing out the clutter, there is more room remaining for the bigger things, like running a social media empire, right Zuck?

Weighing it up

For all decisions contemplated, there is always another way to go about it. A lot of the time that option is to keep doing things the way they are done, which is what people often choose. This option is comfortable, easy, and unless there is something more to look forward to with the other, why not just keep doing things the way they are?

To me, this is not an option. I like to decide by weighing up the pro’s and con’s by making a list; you should try it – forming a range of points for each side really helps to analyse the situation. When something is taking up a lot of head space, and it is difficult to focus on anything else because the answer is not immediately clear, the ‘List’ comes in very handy.

Big life decisions also come with lessons learned. Now in my early thirties, I have made my fair share of these, but I am aware that there are still plenty more to come.

Supporting a movement

Decisions also come with supporting movements and choosing what to stand behind. What do you want to invest your time believing?

Earlier this month (March 8) was International Women’s Day, a day where the achievements of women are recognised and celebrated. Since entering the corporate workforce in 2013, I have noticed as this day has become more widely celebrated each year, which can only be a good thing. As inequalities continue to exist, we have to appreciate and strive towards more activism in this space, which is precisely what this day acknowledges.

An appropriate level of rush

Last week I made the decision to venture into the city for the first time in a year. It was a big deal for me, which after so long at home I was quite excited by. Not because I was desperate to get back to the office but because I missed the morning commute, the food, the faces and experiencing something different every day. As you know, I have been enjoying my new routine, spending a whole lot more time at home with my husband and my dog. I sat on the early morning train watching passers-by and reflecting on how much things had changed in this past year. I also thought of the city rush I was about to experience, although I was expecting it to be much quieter than when I had last been there. I was keen to experience the city as it ‘wakes up‘, with less urgency and a slower pace.

For old times’ sake, I really wanted to have a true Melbourne style day; I wanted to get a nice coffee in a café down an alleyway, eat a bagel for lunch and window shop, then return to my desk to admire the view of the city, which is exactly what I did. I don’t know when or how often I’ll go back in, but now that I have done it, it doesn’t seem like such a big deal. Don’t get me wrong, I think there needs to be a balance and that organisations have (or should have) learned a great deal from the pandemic. If an employer doesn’t see that their staff can be both happy and productive at home, I don’t know what they have learned, or what decisions they have been making over the past few months.

It’s been a busier time for me than usual, not that I have minded. I still think it’s very important to take it easy and enjoy life at the slower pace many of us have grown used to, but every now and then a level of rush can be invigorating. However, we must recognise that there is a decision there, and we need to figure out what levels of rush we want in our lives. This can be done by reflecting on the long-term impacts which although may not be immediate, are ultimately worth considering.

Are we in a world that change can fix?

Posted on by Greta

My post from last month came at a time when I felt so relaxed and ready to take on 2021, so today I wanted to focus on some more pressing issues.

Acknowledging the impact

Like the bushfires that very recently swept across Perth suburbs in Western Australia. Almost 100 homes were lost as well as a huge amount of wildlife. This is all too familiar with us residents in the east, as we were reminded of the devastation of the Victoria/NSW fires not so long ago. With recent findings revealing that logging increases bush flammability for up to 30 years, and that it is 7 times more likely for the canopy of a forest that has been logged to burn, we have to wonder, what is being done to counter this? We can not simply hope that things will change, and that Australia’s environmental future will somehow be spared, we have to act on it; we have to actually do something about it.

Protecting biodiversity

Which brings me to this article from The Conversation AU, ‘To fix Australia’s environment laws, wildlife experts call for these 4 changes – all are crucial’. The post looks at steps that need to be taken to reverse Australia’s current track record of protecting biodiversity, including:

  1. Setting standards
  2. Greater government accountability
  3. Decent funding; and
  4. Increase ecological knowledge.

It is an interesting article and I encourage you to have a read but for now I want to reflect on the last point, the need to increase ecological knowledge, again coming back to my point of adapting to changes occurring around us, rather than hoping. The article suggests expert committees are a requirement in increasing ecological knowledge and really learning about our threatened species and ecological communities so that we can fully invest in forming active recovery plans. We should be paying more attention to this issue, as it affects the environment in which we exist, yet for the majority of the population, contemplating such an issue is just too hard. Why worry about these complex issues when the immediate future is at stake?

In Melbourne right now

Right now here in Melbourne, we are 4 days in to a 5 day lockdown. This is the first time Victoria has tried such a short lockdown in an effort to combat a recent COVID outbreak, and we are all waiting to see if it has paid off so that we can return to the lives we were getting so used to again.

As I said last month, I think this year will be a huge case of trial and error. Even though the vaccine/s are in the process of being rolled out across the country as we speak, it does not mean it is going to abruptly come to an end. It felt strange yet familiar as we suddenly plunged into lockdown at 12pm on Friday night, all plans for the weekend out the window. Which is why this year at least; our plans need to remain as flexible as they can. Certainty is not something we can be sure of, so we need to adapt and whatever we do, we can’t forget the lessons learned in 2020.

Hope is a funny thing. Once we get a glimpse of it, it can be very hard to turn our focus to anything else, but we need to remember that we are still a world that change can fix to some extent. Whether it’s our health or the environment or something else altogether, we need to be able to properly identify the challenges around us; often times, the situation we have put ourselves in. We all have the ability to improve and invest in making a difference to future outcomes, both health and environment related, so let’s make an effort to properly understand what’s going on around us.

Blissful thinking

Posted on by Greta

Almost one month in to 2021, and not much has changed. Australia was fortunate to have been in a pretty good place with managing the COVID situation across multiple states towards the end of last year, and as we entered 2021, things were much the same, with border closures and restrictions in place depending on the area you lived. It almost came as a shock that on New Year’s Eve my husband and I were required to wear masks when we went out to dinner but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do, and we understand the importance of these kinds of mandates. After all, it was not so long ago that we were in a more challenging time, similar to what much of the world is still experiencing right now.

The year ahead

With desperate hopes for an effective vaccine and a fast rollout, the world is in limbo. It amazes me how adamant some people are to get on with their daily lives, as if nothing is happening, lining up immediately behind one another to purchase a coffee or cramming into the grocery aisle.

People everywhere are wondering; when will things go back to being how they were? Or maybe they have already come to terms with the fact that nothing will ever be the same, and they don’t care, or just don’t want to think about it. I could say something about ignorance and bliss right here, but I’ll leave that for you to decide.

As I said last year, I think it will be a very long time before anything is back to the way it was pre pandemic and as common as it may be to say it now, many of us are getting used to the new normal. We have just about had one whole year to become accustomed to the situation, so there is no excuse, right? Sadly, this concept of normality applies to climate change too; it seems that anything we don’t have a practical solution for falls into this category.

Time to refresh

This year brings no change to my working situation; I’m still at home, which I am happy about. But it is not easy making plans for the year ahead. Of course, we can stay at home as we did last year, and I am a bit of a homebody so wouldn’t mind this too much, or we can plan to get things done on the weekend, falling victim to our pre-pandemic lifestyles. It’s like a trap; we are so used to being all go, go, go, when the best thing we can do right now is stay put.

I have been thinking and reading a lot on the topic of wellness lately, which the more I think about it, the more I realise it is something that resonates with me. I want to take the time to learn yoga and meditation; to learn how to properly switch my mind off. I have just started using natural oils on my skin and am absolutely loving them. By ensuring my meals remain healthy throughout the day (breakfast of bircher muesli/granola is my all-time fave), and fitting in plenty of exercise, this is working well for me. Maybe that is what I should continue to focus on this year; health and wellness as a way of helping me to relax and unwind.

Change is refreshing, and with so much happening around us every day, now is a good time to take time to focus on what really makes us happy. Take the plunge and do something you’ve always wanted to; It doesn’t have to be a drastic commitment or promise; maybe a simple change of heart or new perspective on something is all that is required.

So go on, have a think about what you could do for yourself that will also have a positive impact on the people and/or environment around you and make it happen.

An appetite for action

Posted on by Greta

This year has certainly been unlike any other year like I have never experienced before, for a number of reasons that affected so many people. Starting late 2019, was the heat and the bushfires that much of Australia experienced. I remember packing up and leaving the beach house in a hurry just before New Year’s, once the power shut off and our dog struggled in the heat. On the drive back to Melbourne we listened to the news on the radio, with warnings for Melbournians to evacuate if they were in close proximity to a fire, and to take care and watch with caution if they were in a surrounding area.

I will never forget heading to work in the CBD in early January to a city I had never experienced, with a haze of smoke and dusty skies. It was a constant reminder of what was happening all around us, as Australia truly begun to understand the impacts of climate change.

But part of me wonders, do we actually know? Do we really understand the causes, the problems, and the lasting effects? Spending time at my Dad’s property in February definitely got me thinking about our relationship with nature, and how important every aspect of our ecosystem is in cultivating growth and change around us.

The COVID situation

After a quick trip to Tasmania in February to enjoy all the region has to offer (quite literally) and attend a friend’s wedding, we were back in Melbourne with a trip to New Zealand planned for early March. As we heard the news of ‘coronavirus’ breaking out in countries far away, we were unaware of the significant threat it posed, or that we would soon be experiencing one of the harshest lockdowns in history.

We made it to New Zealand without a hiccup and stayed informed of the news as we travelled around the North island for ten days. We had a wonderful holiday; packed with rainforest walks/runs, waterfalls, sailing the Bay of Islands and indulging in some incredible food and wine. We visited the town of Taupo, where we were amazed at the size of the lake; we had never seen one so big, only on American TV shows. We experienced the stench of Rotorua and marvelled at the sulphuric springs as they boiled away, letting off steam.

We heard coronavirus warnings on the radio as we drove from town to town and were impressed with the speed at which the country was informing the public. We doubted that Australia would have such precautions in place this early on. We had just finished a tour of the Waitomo glow worm caves, one of the most incredible things I had ever seen, when things really started spiralling out of control around the world. It was our second last night in New Zealand, and while we were having an amazing time away, we were looking forward to getting back to a familiar place, as chaos unfolded around us.

We made it back within a few days of the mandatory quarantine being enforced for people who had been out of the country. Not that we went anywhere or did anything when we returned anyway; we found ourselves working from home and not leaving for many other reasons at all, other than to shop for food and to exercise.

The state of being

I have shared my thoughts and feelings throughout the year, and some of my posts may have been slightly repetitive, which only emphasises the state of being for 2020.

While I write of cities, of the bush, of time spent travelling earlier this year, I reflect on these major events and wonder what the next year, even the next 10-20 years will bring. It seems that this way of living has already become ‘business as usual’.

Here in Victoria, Australia, we have been doing so well at keeping cases down, but as we begin to let international travellers back in, I can only wonder what will happen after the last debacle, and with what’s going on in New South Wales at the moment, who knows. Of course, I am hoping for the best, for a level of control, for strong leadership and guidelines that will mean that we don’t find ourselves to a similar situation that we were in earlier this year in 2021, for both the pandemic and the environment, although things are not looking great.

But there are signs of respite, such as this beautiful story of a thought to be extinct pygmy possum being recently found on Kangaroo Island after bushfires destroyed much of the island last summer.

As America comes to terms with the idea of a new president in Biden, someone that has climate change well and truly on his agenda, we can only hope too that Australia has a plan, because if things keep going the way they are, it doesn’t seem that we will be able to enjoy our country for much longer. Every summer will be the same; fires, loss of and significant damage to wildlife and an enormous volunteer effort to manage the situation. As David Attenborough would say, this is just not a sustainable way of living; we need to drastically change our approach before it is too late.

This year has shown that when given strong leadership, we as a community can do it, we can get out of almost anything, or at least turn things around. So, let’s make 2021 a year of learning, reflection and action on anything that is within our control.

Have a safe and happy Christmas break everyone and see you next year!