We are currently hunkering down in Pymble, Australia, in our AirBnB. Our host and hostess are heeding the advice of the Australian government by practicing social distancing. We are grateful, but we wonder exactly how this will be completely accomplished and still live life.
There are two rooms in our lodging. One is the bedroom with lovely French doors overlooking a beautiful garden. A queen bed, a small settee in one corner, and a table for two in another make up the bedroom. The kitchen is…weird…like not anything you would expect (or would want?) The bathroom is off the kitchen…sort of. The shower is completely glassed-in and see-through and located on the back end of the kitchen. The toilet is right next to the shower, separated from it by a single clear glass panel. Fortunately, the commode is behind a “frosted” glass panel to separate it from the kitchen. You can only see shadows through the frosted glass. The sink is shared between the bathroom and kitchen. We can cook, shower, and use the toilet without having to take more than three steps. And all three are visible from each other! If there is a foul odor in the kitchen – it might not be Kathy’s cooking!!! The area is small, but it is bigger than our campervan, so we are keeping it in perspective. We agreed to close the bedroom door and to practice social distancing in the kitchen if someone has to use any of the facilities…exit stage right!! We may have to implement a bathroom and shower schedule. Maybe that is how Sheldon from “The Big Bang Theory” got his idea? The door between the bedroom and the kitchen/bathroom has a lock on it – but it is locked from the bedroom side, not the bathroom side. I guess they figure it is more important to have privacy in the bedroom than in the bathroom?
Yesterday morning we walked down to the local grocery store to stock up on food, in case we have to stay indoors for a while. Realizing the space limitations of our lodging, though, we worked on balancing quantities of food with available space in the kitchen. The store was out of many things, but not our beloved vegetables and fruit! Wouldn’t you want healthy food to stave off illness instead of cookies? We navigated the mob in the store and were grateful we had toilet paper in the bathroom. You could not practice social distancing in the store, as you were constantly being bumped into by people trying to get the last food items from the store. No chicken could be found except for precooked stuff. Good thing, though, as we have no oven – only a stove top. Arranging our space, we feel like we have reached a good balance between having enough food and not having to store it under the bed. We had a home cooked dinner tonight (or mostly), along with Kathy’s favorite – salad!! A long walk around the neighborhood rounded out the day. We were still able to see and listen to the cacophony of birds native to the Land Down Under. We spotted a new, and as of yet unidentified, bird species along the way. It was a white parrot-type bird with a pink chest. The sulfur-crested cockatoos are so plentiful, they are becoming a nuisance with the constant squawking!
Kathy expects to continue to work on her CEU’s while in Sydney. Dave continues to work on where our plans went awry and how we can adapt. He says Antarctica is looking pretty darn good right about now! He also learned that all of the 2005-2006 Buffalo Sabres playoff games are now available on YouTube! Woo hoo!
