Marie-Laure and I were trying for the third year in a row to get to Thredbo, But with NSW slowly turning into a Covid basket case, the boarders were shut down again and we resigned ourselves to skiing in Victoria instead. Then thanks to a pair of dim-witted NSW removalists, Covid was off and racing again in Victoria too, and I had to cancel the rest of my working week to escape Melbourne before we missed out altogether. But not before the France Vs Wallabies match and then a hearty Bastille Day party with our closest frog friends. There was also a fantastic incoming weather system, so I was mindful of getting up to DP ahead of a cold front which had road-closing potential.
It was lovely to be back in our place, just the two of us, with the fire roaring, a blanket of fresh snow, and lots of cooking. Whilst we were restricted to a 5km radius, DP were still maintaining the XC trails, and we had a few other adventures to some of our favourite old more remote places, as well as some new ones, including a solo down to the Upper Victoria River catchment which was very pretty with lots of kookaburras, roos and deer. Chockie was in his element.
Marie-Laure got heaps done in both bathrooms, and I got a bunch of odd jobs done.
With lockdown extended for another week, we decided to stay on up, so I went back to Melbourne and picked up the kids from dad and then drove back. We'd all been notified we needed covid tests after the rugby, so ML and I had had ours down in Omeo, and dad took the kids to the Alfred.
Despite a distinct lack of enthusiasm, I think the kids enjoyed (!) homeschooling from DP. We had another cracking storm, which made for some very pretty skiing, and some crazy ice down at Carmichael Falls. Balti and I also built an igloo, which was hard work - and even slept out (and homeschooled!) in it on the last night until the dog got cold!
Could have stayed the rest of winter, but with Victoria beating another round of the virus, unfortunately (!) we had to go back to real school. A wonderful fortnight all the same.
