Last week we headed off up north for a week in Brisbane and on the Sunshine Coast. I like a good road trip, and we took our time, breaking our journey each ay, at Sawtell, and at Coffs Harbour. Sawtell has to be one of the very finest spots, though there are plenty of rivals.
At the Hoey Moey pub in Coffs Harbour I had my first proper pub dinner since the recent Covid lockdown easing in NSW. They were doing it here in a properly socially-distanced way. Not always the case, I've noticed.
Where are we indeed? This aeroplane-loving car passenger had been decidedly dubious about such a big road trip. Then, several hours into the journey, wonder of wonders, there's the plane! She ran over to inspect it, and alas, it's only painted on the side of a truck. Which drove off. She'd missed the flight after all!
The Queensland border was to be a challenge. It was still closed, despite neither NSW nor Queensland having had any community-transmission Covid cases for quite a while. But there were exemptions, such as attendance at a funeral, and we made it through.
A day or two later it all changed at the border. They started a 'search-and-repel' policy for Victorians, that state having suddenly experienced an enormous Covid uptick. We noticed on the return journey that the queue had massively expanded, and northbound drivers were no longer being waved through.
