The New Normal

As 2020 progressed I think it became clear to all of us that this pandemic was not going to pass after a brief battle. There are so many massive things that have been affected by this but one tiny little one is this blog. I think it was just too far down on the worry list for me to get to it. But we're getting on, aren't we? And our children are growing and learning and laughing. This is their childhood. Right now. It is precious and their experience here is different and I want to record it.

So far here in the NT we have been remarkably lucky and by July we were also able to play so we headed back to Kakadu and Mataranka Springs and Darwin. It was the perfect break including nature and family time as well as a taste of the city life that we miss.

I had forgotten how retreating to nature can calm the mind and reset the soul. Heather said I was like a spring that had been compressed very tight and with the release I could bounce back and I remember thinking how completely right that analogy felt. There was still a big hole in our lives where our support network of family and friends should have been but everything was alright.

We swam...

We walked...

Our favourite campsite at Mataranka provided all the fun we remembered from last time with the most peaceful form of family-friendly hospitality I've ever seen. No flashing lights or whizzing mechanics just space with a buffalo, cows and sugar gliders to feed and morning cuddles with a variety of reptiles over fresh jack-cakes.

We enjoyed Meg and Paul as usual. It has been special to have time with them this year. We appreciate their quiet support and they set the most wonderful example of how to embrace simple living and slow down. Those things do not come naturally to us!

We took the opportunity to enjoy some small city fun while Ed did another intensive study week for his Masters. The kids did a school holiday gymnastics course over 2 days and I particularly enjoyed my dawn waterside pilates class.

With fresh spring in our step we returned to Maningrida. I was pleased to find that the frangipani sticks I had transplanted had taken and were flowering. Also the pineapple plant that we were gifted by our neighbour Karen was growing a small and perfectly formed pineapple (don't get too excited we never got to eat it it was stolen long before it matured but we did enjoy it for a while).

I was determined to commit to a more positive interaction with friends and colleagues so we hosted a party and made a bit more effort and settled into a calmer rhythm. There was work and school. Cooking and swimming and Ed studying on the weekends. Zoe and I persevered with weaving for a couple of weeks (she was much better at it than me!) but it was just sooo hard for me to escape from work in time. The kids started zoom singing and violin lessons (a covid silver lining - this was just not available for them before). They were invited to their first birthday party hosted by a local family and we felt we had finally been able to hang out with the cool kids (not that our balinda friends aren't cool but their habits are familiar and comfortable and we came here for the unfamiliar and uncomfortable).

We spent a whole afternoon fascinatedly observing the visiting vets work their tails off on the back of a ute. The camp dogs hadn't seen a vet for nearly a year by the time these guys visited so town is teeming with puppies and some very mangy mutts. We managed to convince our neighbours to sterilise most of their dogs (even one very pregnant dog who is quite underweight and has had innumerable pups before). They couldn't be convinced to sterilise Ham Dog (apparently her real name is Princess) because she makes lovely pups. Well it is true we do love her pups. The vet let me know that he included a 6 month hormonal contraceptive in her vaccinations so at least she will get a break, poor old thing! This team of docs were remarkable and they worker their butts off. They had multiple anaesthetised dogs lined up in the dirt beside the ute. They wormed and vaccinated half a dozen pups. Charlotte fetched one little runt from under a wrecked car and held her while they put her down. Charlotte said it as ok because "she can die peacefully in my arms".

We have actually been able to live a remarkably normal life here in the NT and we are very aware that around the country (and the world) the restrictions required to keep the virus at bay have been very oppressive and difficult While the people of Victoria suffered through the middle of the year in isolation and sickness we were able to work and play as usual and for that we are very grateful. We were, however, haunted by the lack of family support and we missed our old friends terribly.