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Our covid holiday in England

Reading Time: 19 minutes
England (April 2022)
Experiencing international flights again

It finally happened! Australian borders reopened in November 2021 after being unable to leave the country since March 2020. We were finally allowed out! I didn’t book a trip straight away though. Australia had a very high vaccination rate but the pandemic wasn’t over yet. During our Summer of 2021/22, Covid rapidly spread throughout Australia and I wasn’t convinced things wouldn’t revert back to lockdowns and border closures again. Plus there were still quite a few impediments to travel. I knew it wouldn’t be as easy as it was pre-Covid.

We were desperate to see our family and friends in England so after weighing up pros and cons we decided to book a month long trip in April, spanning a week either side of the Easter school break. Brandon had finished high school and was taking a break while looking for work. For Cordy two weeks off school wasn’t ideal but as it turned out, schools were experiencing heavy teacher and student absences anyway- either getting covid or being forced to isolate due to a family member having covid.

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Wine tasting in Murrumbateman

Reading Time: 10 minutes
Murrumbateman, NSW (Jan 2021)

Murrumbateman is a little town in NSW, 40 minutes drive north west of Canberra and not far from Yass. It used to be a gold mining village but is now known for its vineyards, being at the heart of Canberra wine country.

What an ugly year 2020 was! Like everyone else, the global pandemic put a stop to all our travel plans. We lost a chunk of money after our trip to LA got cancelled in April (thanks Cadillac Hotel Venice Beach for not refunding us despite being a fully refundable booking). Plus Steve and I found ourselves working harder than ever, as the lines of work we are both in saw the pandemic actually creating more work for us. The final insult to injury was getting stuck in lock down over Christmas. Mind you, I know there were people much worse off than us so I’m not really complaining. Compared to our family & friends in the UK, we had it easy being in lock-down at Christmas on the northern beaches of Sydney during an Australian summertime.

In late January 2021, we decided to dip our toes in the water and to venture out of Sydney for a day trip to regional NSW. This was our first trip since the pandemic and since we can’t travel overseas we thought we’d make the most of our local area and visit somewhere we haven’t been before. We’ve been to Canberra plenty of times and driven past signs advertising local wineries but not had the chance to stop. I heard there were some decent wines in the area so we decided on the Canberra winery region as our destination. After getting some tips from one of our Canberran based friends and doing some research I picked some wineries in the Murrumbateman area. COVID safe plans meant booking would be essential. We wouldn’t be able to roll up and expect to be accommodated. I set about building an itinerary.

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2019 Moto Giro in Bathurst

Reading Time: 6 minutes
Bathurst, NSW (June 2019)

Each year Australian Scooterists participate in the Motoretta Giro Internazionale. What is this Moto Giro you ask? Started in Italy, this is now an annual international event when groups of classic motorbikes and scooters get together worldwide for a ride of a different nature. It’s a regularity trial, not a race. Basically the objective is to ride three timed laps non-stop around a designated circuit and whoever does each lap in the most consistent time, wins. It’s harder than you think!

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Swan Valley day trip

Reading Time: 5 minutes
Swan Valley, Perth, W.A. (May 2019)

During a business trip to Perth I decided to drag my husband along and we stayed an extra couple of nights for some R&R. I have been to Perth a few times in the past for work purposes, usually only for a day or two, so have already seen some of the well known spots around Perth such as Kings Park, Cottesloe Beach and Fremantle. I once even managed a brief day trip to the Margaret River efficiently cramming in a visit to four wineries. This time I wanted to experience somewhere new so I started asking around for other suggestions.

The Swan Valley was recommended so we decided on this destination after learning it is only 30 minutes drive from Perth and has a lot to offer in terms of wineries, cafes, chocolate outlets and nougat stores.

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