Lockdown holiday

Click here for more photos

Days leading up to our winter Queensland holiday were quite stressful, right up until when we were finally up in the air. Just as our flight was boarding, all of southeast Queensland, our final destination, was to go on a 3-day lockdown from 6pm that night. It all happened so fast. A few passengers had pulled out last minute which delayed our flight from Canberra. It felt a bit crazy that we decided to go but despite being in lockdown, we were much more relaxed than we were back home. We very much needed the warmer climate, ocean air and serenity. We bought groceries from Coles that night and had a bbq chicken for dinner. We played Exploding Kittens which Catherine won and then we watched GoldenEye before bed.

On day two, we checked out the resort's movie library and games room after having breakfast in our apartment. The children and I played table tennis. There were two other boys in the room playing foosball. Afterwards, we walked to the beach which was only a two minute walk from the property. It was a glorious sunny day and the beach was so welcoming. There were some groups of families around but all were socially distanced. Phil later went back with Nicholas for another walk and photographs. Catherine and I played Junior Monopoly. For lunch, Phil and I did another quick grocery shop at the local IGA and found some Japanese takeaway for lunch at Sushi Wave. In the afternoon, Phil had to attend a work symposium via Zoom while I took the kids to the pool and spa. We had prawns and salmon with chips for dinner. Our evening ended with a beach walk in the dark and a mediocre movie, The Mummy (2016).

We woke up a little later on day three. There was some rain overnight. After a slow morning we went for exercise at Noosa Beach. We were going to walk at Noosa Heads but it was quite busy for lockdown and that part of the national park was closed. We went to the quiet side of the beach and were able to go for a nice walk. Police patrolled the area while we were there but they didn't stop anyone. On our way back to Peregian Beach, we made a quick stop at the Laguna Lookout which overlooks Noosa. It was a good outing and I'm glad the kids enjoyed it too. Later in the evening before dinner we all went to the resort's pool. Catherine and I played a couple of games of Uno. Dinner was sausages and movie was The Matrix.

We woke up to good news on day four. Lockdown was ending in our area at 6pm. I went for a walk on the beach after breakfast. We stayed put most of the day. We played foosball and table tennis after lunch. Before dinner we went for exercise at Sunshine Beach. We were at the dog area end of the beach so there were quite a few people around. We left after the sunset and were quite tired after climbing the steps back up to our car. Dinner that night was takeaway from Captain's Daughter - fish and chips and burgers. We finished watching The Matrix that night.

Day five was gloomy and very wet. We had another late and slow morning. We ended up staying home most of the day with the exception of a brief outing to the shops for milkshakes and some more groceries. We read, watched Hotel Transylvania and War of the Worlds, walked on the beach and played more card games. Dinner was chicken schnitzels.

Day six was a beautiful sunny and warm day with a top of 22 degrees. We got up and ready a little bit earlier than usual to go explore Buderim Falls. It was a lovely but popular trail to the falls. We wore masks unlike most people we encountered. The ground was muddy and slippery in parts. Hearing the falls and surrounds was serene and pleasant. It was good exercise climbing up and walking back to the car. We went into the Buderim town centre to find lunch. The local bakery had a good selection of things so we bought crispy pork Banh Mi, a sausage roll, jam donuts and apple strudel. We also went to Subway but there were too many people so we went in search for another one about a 10-minute drive away. It was empty. Success. We drove back to our resort. I got dropped off at Peregian village and walked back along the beach. It took about 25 minutes. We hung out at the pool in the late afternoon and then drove to Noosa Heads to catch the sunset. It was fun to see the surfers catching waves. We walked up to the Boiling Pot at which point it was almost completely dark. Dinner was from Chinese takeaway, China Jade, in Noosaville. We ended the evening watching Shanghai Noon.

We set our alarm for 7.15 this morning on our last day. We packed up, ate up and cleaned up. We checked out about 9.45am. We headed out to the Glass House Mountains lookout. The drive was pleasant and scenic. We spent about 15 minutes at the lookout taking in the amazing view. We decided that we still had time for another quick stop by the water so I found a place on the map called Shorncliffe Pier. It was a nice place on Moreton Bay with a mud flat beach and a cool pier, 350 metres long. Phil walked nearly to the end while the kids and I walked about quarter of the way. It was a warm day. Lunch for the kids was drive-thru from McDonald's then we were off to the airport which was only about 20 minutes away. We had plenty of time to spare and the airport was still very quiet. We hung out at the Virgin Airlines lounge for a couple of hours eating lunch and snacking. It was weird to see so many flights cancelled on the departures and arrivals board. Our flight was not full but not exactly empty either. We were lucky to be able to get away safely and so grateful for the change of scenery.