Greg and Deb's Travel Blog

In the last month the world has seen over 23 million new cases of Covid-19 and over 202 thousand people have died of the disease.

Australia has had over 178 thousand new cases of Covid-19 and 213 deaths due to it.

The Omicron Variant has seen the numbers of new cases surge all around the world and particularly noticeable for us here in Australia.  In South Australia our case numbers went from under 1000 to over 8000 in the month! Thankfully the death rate didn’t follow the same rise.

Australia seems to be facing a crisis in health care this month, if we can struggle through January we should be ok, I hope. Continue reading →

In the last month there have been over 16 million  new cases of Covid-19 world wide, with over 227,000 deaths.In Australia we had over 41 thousand new cases of Covid-19, with over 277 deaths.Australia has delayed opening its borders to the world for 2 weeks to see what is going on with Omicron.

We had an eventful stay at the Mayfair Hotel in Adelaide. They allow dogs to stay with you so we used our Great State discount vouchers and booked 2 nights early in the month. Unfortunately Louis had a tummy bug and we thought it was best to cut our losses after one night. It was lots of fun and he got totally spoilt by the staff at the hotel.

Deb did a couple of study courses in the month and is delving into interesting areas of study.WA slammed shut its borders to us again just as we opened them to the Eastern plague states.

As usual follow the link below for my monthly Covid Blog.

Stay safe out there people.

#23 November 2021 Looks like Omicron is riding the 5th wave

In the last month there have been another 36 million cases of Covid-19 globally with another 200,000 deaths, at home in Australia we had our worst month of the pandemic, with 65,000 new cases of Covid-19 and around 400 deaths. Globally the world passed 5 million deaths due to Covid-19.

But for Australia it is now time to open up. All Australian governments, except WA have given up on the eradication strategy to adopt a live with it regime. It’s going to be a rough time for all here, accepting the inevitable deaths is probably the hardest thing for all to get their heads around. Our hospital and medical systems are going to be placed under enormous strain and a lot of very hard calls will need to be made.

31 October marked the last day that Australia was formally closed to free travel, fully vaccinated people will be allowed to reenter the country without quarantine, with authorities relying on a self reporting and testing system. This may not go well.

On a brighter note, we managed to get away with family for a short holiday down at Victor Harbor, and spent a bit of time on the beach and just enjoying our time together.

At the end of the month I took a flight to Perth to see Pat, Alyce and Harry. With WA not opening its borders anytime soon I am not sure when I will be able to get back over there, maybe not until next year sometime. Harry is growing so quickly and marking all those childhood milestones, more teeth, walking, chatting anyway (wish we knew what he was saying!) Was so good to spend a short time with them, they are doing so well.

Our puppy, Louis, has had an eventful month. Got over, eating rat poison, a bleed behind his eye, desexing and a bleed in his bowel. In among all that he progressed from Level 1 to Level 2 in Doggy Obedience school.

We aren’t sure what November holds for us, but it will be anything but dull, I am sure. Tessa finishes her Year 12 exams, another grandchild leaving school!

We had news this morning that a friend’s daughter and her family in the USA has contracted Covid-19 for the 2^nd time, even after being vaccinated between infections. Our thoughts are with them all as they recover, again.

Stay safe out there everyone.

My October Covid-19 Diary can be found here, just click the link.

#22 October 2021 The Fourth Wave is over, what next?

As the global 4^th wave of Covid-19 went into decline the pandemic smacked Australia. With firstly NSW then Victoria going through rapid widespread infections throughout the 2 states. The rest of Australia closed their borders to the 2 states and that continues.

Melbourne gained the dubious honour of the world’s most locked down city.

The ASX lost 4.5% over the month.

On a bright note, the vaccination rates in Australia have take off very well and the country is looking to start opening up both internally and externally. The federal government hopes it can start easing our International borders from mid December. NSW, Victoria and the ACT lead the charge in vaccination rates.

The charts below shows graphically how the pandemic has played out so far. Looking at the global pattern evolving it seem likely that the world will endure a 5^th wave starting in late October/ early November. The peaks of such a 5^th wave are likely to be lower than the previous waves, and the duration is likely to be less, somewhere around 2.5 months long.

Global Chart

My Blog for September can be found via the following link.

#21 September 2021 We ride the 4th wave

Stay safe out there.

The number of new daily cases of Covid-19 has stabilised in a band similar to the end of the second wave. However, there is always something new around to kick this beast on. This month it is the emergence of the Delta variant of the Coronavirus / Covid-19.

The Delta variant is an extremely contagious variant. A person in Australia developed Covid-19 after an infected person walked passed them, it was calculated (via CCTV) that the “contact” period was around 15 seconds.

Australia has gone from a leader in containment and management of Covid-19 to a “laughing stock”. Due to poor federal government policy Australia is now last on a list of developed nations for vaccinations. The issues in Australia have been put down to lack of urgency, planning delivery and messaging about the vaccination program.

My June 2021 Covid blog can be found here:

#18 June 2021 The “Third Wave” is over, but hello the Delta Variant!

We started our month with a guided walk through Veale Gardens with the Adelaide Parklands Association. It was really interesting to find out a bit of history behind the gardens across the road from where we live. This was the second walking tour we have done with the Association and have enjoyed both.

May 4 was Deb’s birthday and I took her up into the hills to The Lane Winery for lunch, we had a very enjoyable couple of hours and the food was fantastic.

We had dinner for Ethan’s (and Deb’s) birthday on Sat 8^th. It was a fun night with lots of celebration. Continue reading →

We had an enjoyable month with lots of different things going on.

We went to Sydney to visit mum for a belated 90^th celebration with her. We took her to visit her twin, Carmel, and had a good time catching up with family.

While we were at mum’s, Pat Alyce and Harry stayed over for a couple of nights. Pat starts a new job as the GIS guy at a local council in Perth the following week. Harry was great, he is growing up so quickly. While Pat and his family were there we stayed at Craig and Cooks place. I was good to spend a bit of time with my “little bro”.

In the middle of the month we had a morning tea at the Migration museum with Brian and Eileen to celebrate the laying of their “Brick” in the courtyard. They were happy with what Deb had done. Continue reading →