Regine’s review of 2020

As you all will agree, this was the strangest year we ever had. Hopefully we can tick it off as a one off.

Here some highlights from my year: 

Christmas 2019

Christmas day 2019 was spent with my dear friends Vada, Ben and Charlotte and later in the day we were also joined by Tahereh, Melvyn, Deborah and Natalie. Of course for little Charlotte, 3.5 years at that time, it was a very exciting time and a frenzy of gift unwrapping.

Christmas Holiday

On Boxing Day my friend Petra arrived from Germany and to maximise our time together while I am off work, we left on the next day for a trip down south.

We spent 4 days in Margaret River in an Air B’n’B place. It was a bit outside of town on a big block in the bush. It was unintentionally, but it worked out perfectly, as we had every morning and evening Kangaroos grazing on our lawn outside the living room. 

Day trips in and around Margaret River

During the day we did multiple trips with our eBikes to the beach and to town. In the evenings we used the car as it was a bit to creepy coming home late and finding our way through the bush.

Albany

On New Years eve we moved on to Albany. There we stayed in a motel about 5 km from the town centre, but still in Albany. We greeted the new year with lots of other people on the foreshore where a “picnic and fireworks” event was held. We grabbed something to eat and watched the kids fireworks at 9pm, after which we decided it was too cold to wait for another 3 hours for the big fireworks. So we rod back home and played rummy cup until midnight and then watched the fireworks from the motel ground. We explored Albany and surroundings with our eBikes and discovered some very beautiful spots.

Perth 

Back home in Perth Petra spent the days exploring Perth while I was back to work, however we used the evenings and weekend for all sorts of activities. We went to Penguin Island, Hillarys, Sumerville Outdoor Movies, Scarborough Markets, bars and pubs and done a twilight cruise on the Swan River.

Of course I also got some homemade bavarian specialities served by Petra. Mid January we said good bye with the words “until May”, not knowing that life was about to change drastically.

Covid

When Covid crept into our life I was still quite confident that everything would be back to normal by May and I could certainly fly to Germany as planned. In March we started to have the first Covid instructions at work and I started to develop a sore throat. I wasn’t allowed to go back to work and started working from home. I kept dragging the sore throat around for 6 weeks, not being able to see a doctor and not being allowed to go into the office and of course I wasn’t being able to get a Covid test either at this early stage.

Around mid March I got an email from my airline announcing that my flight to Germany was cancelled. Until then I still had hoped that I could fly by May. It was a sad day to tell my family about it. At this stage it dawned on me, that I was stuck with 55 packs of Tim Tam! I had bought them for half price in late January thinking I made a great deal as I could bring all my nephews more with this special! Unfortunately posting wasn’t an option, as it was far to expensive. So I started eating, gifting and selling.

Crafty Time  and Socialising

Overall I didn’t think it was such a hard ship to stay home as I finally could do all the things I had planned for so many years but never found time for! I finally had time!

I did lots of crafty stuff, like a macramé net for a blue glass balloon, acrylic pouring, repairing my shell welcome sign and creating new shell pictures, trying a number of new techniques for card making, starting scrapbooking, repairing some cloths and other things that needed sewing done.

When it was announced, that the lock down was basically over and we had to go back to the office in June I was actually rather disappointed. I still had all sorts of ideas of what I wanted to do in my head and I enjoyed the uninterrupted work environment at home. I felt so much more productive. Of course also saving on driving time and having the option to sit outside in the sun for lunch was just wonderful. 

Socialising started slowly but surely and it wasn’t long until it felt like we were sort of back to normal. Mid August we also started our weekly dinner and movie evening.

Birthday 

As we had a public holiday on the Monday before my birthday and we always getting a day off on our birthday, which was on Friday, I decided to take the three days in between off and have a full week at home. When I arranged it I thought I will make a head start with all my Christmas preparation, like cards, calendar, review etc, but it turned out all different.
My friend Knut was coming from Queensland and needed to self isolate for 14 days and he asked me if he could do it at my place!

So instead of doing my Christmas preparations we spent a lot of time talking and playing Rummy Cup. I also had to go multiple times shopping with big lists from Knut as he was cooking for me every night. Despite getting very little of my planned activities done it was a very nice and relaxing time and I think I definitely needed a break from work.

On my birthday I went out for breakfast with my good friends Claudia, Albrecht and Ross and in the evening Knut cooked for me.

Beach

Whenever possible I try to go to the beach. It’s just wonderful having the beach almost on my doorstep. I use my eBike to ride the 2 km down to the beach, don’t need to worry about finding a car park and I am not completely exhausted coming home up the hill with the help of a bit of battery power. I have also been on numerous rides along the beach just for fun or getting to my monthly massage. 

Unfortunately also my December flight to Germany has been cancelled, so I will be spending Christmas and New Year in Perth with friends, which should not be an issue, since we are basically Covid free and have hardly any restrictions.

Wherever you are I hope you stay safe and healthy and that you can celebrate Christmas with your loved ones.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a very happy and healthy New Year