These are the days of our lives

 

The last of my beach holiday posts is here!

 Much like our last holiday, this one came to a sudden halt. It started out like a normal day. My family and I browsed some of the Eden shops - the hippie shop, a new op-shop and the $2 shop. We visited the lookout, a gorgeous place where you can see a 180 degree view of the ocean. We took photos, gazed at the water, watched boats glide by and heard overseas holidaymakers chattering away with their lovely accents and languages.

 

We went to the Fisherman's Club for lunch, a small way to say 'thank you' to the small business that gave us shelter when we had to evacuate from bush-fires last year. We spotted the pokies machines area where we'd had to sleep on the carpet with hundreds of other people. The room will be forever etched in my mind as it was such a frightening situation but seeing it in the daylight was very strange as I almost didn't recognise it.

 

 

We walked upstairs to the eating area and I umm-ed and ahh-ed trying to decide what to eat before finally choosing the bucket of prawns. Seafood is my favourite food to eat on beach holidays. My sister and dad shared a seafood platter and my mum ordered the buffet menu. 

 After lunch we went to Asling Beach, a surfer's paradise right across the road from a cemetery. It sounds odd but what a lovely resting place it'd be. Mum, Alex and I walked down the boardwalk, arm in arm, talking about this and that, taking in the lovely sights.

 

After we returned from a big shop at the supermarket, our cabin neighbour told us that the Victorian borders we closing. Surely he must be kidding, we thought, although we switched on the TV and indeed the borders were closing as corona-virus cases from NSW were popping up in Melbourne. My mum's horrified expression conveyed that she was completely thrown that yet another holiday had been cut short. 

Trying to stay calm, we went for a swim, figuring that we still had a day and a half before we had to leave. I paddled using a boogie board and we splashed around in the water. Looking out to the stunning, blue water, I was determined to appreciate every moment. I figured I'd squeeze in another swim the next morning before we had to leave.

Returning back to the cabin, I overheard our neighbour saying that we actually had to get into Victoria by midnight that day if we wanted to avoid a mandatory 14 day isolation period! Experiencing a mini panic and major deja vu, I thought I'd better quickly pack my things. I hopped into the shower and by the time I got out, my family decided we'd better leave right away to avoid the inevitable long line of traffic at the border. We packed the cabin up, taking some of the food home and left lots of unopened refrigerated food for the cleaners. We waved goodbye to our neighbours and our beloved beach.

We made a mad dash for the border and waited in line for 1.5 hours before showing our permits to the kind policeman who ushered us through with a reminder to get some rest during the long drive home. It was nice seeing the sunset peeking through the trees that had regrown since the fires. Soon it was pitch black, not helped by the fact that we were in the middle of nowhere with no street lights. The long and windy roads are dangerous to drive through at night because of the wildlife that cross the road. Mum and I were terrified that a kangaroo would jump out and we wouldn't be able to stop in time as it was so dark. That combined with my dad driving like a mad race car driver had us squealing and bickering galore!

I could have kiss the ground with relief when we finally got to country town Bairnsdale a few hours later at 11.30pm. We stopped in the McDonald's car park for a few hours sleep, like many others in the same position as us. Sleeping in a car, in a Macca's car park, yes you read that right! How very glamorous we are!

I tried to sleep for a few hours but was uncomfortable so I mostly just looked up at the big church nearby whose white cross illuminated the sky. At about 4.00am, we couldn't sleep any longer, so we drove home, as some light peeped through the sky. The motion of the car finally put me to sleep.

We took a mandatory COVID-19 test before we got home. Thank goodness we only had a 40  minute wait compared to others who had to wait 3+ hours in a car on a hot day. Mum provided us with some comedic relief when she carried on a bit as the nose swab was painful for her. As this was my third COVID-19 test, I just found it to be a little ticklish.

We were home by 10.00am, our holiday done and dusted. I'm glad we made the most of our trip, relaxed, read, swam, went out and about and ate some lovely food. We've been home for some time now and I've become sentimental looking back at these photos. It makes me think that these are indeed the days of our lives and I'm thankful for the lovely memories I have.

 

And back to the reality (the present)...I've spent the last few days getting ready for my students to return on Monday. Wish me luck, I get nervous starting again each year. Last night, I went out to dinner with my work friends and had a great time chattering the night away. Today was spent starting season four of Italian crime drama Gomorrah. Have you seen it? X

 

 Title: These Are The Days Of Our Lives by Queen.