COVID-19 – has it affected your family?

I haven’t written anything for a while now. Let me tell you why.

We live in a town in the Riverina in South Western NSW and our town was one of those that had managed to get through the first waves of Covid without too many cases. That all changed at the end of 2021 with the arrival of the Omicron variant. Numbers of cases went up dramatically.

Our family had two Christmas events on the weekend before Christmas, one on the Saturday for 20 people and the other on Sunday for 39 people. Everyone of those was double-vaccinated. Unfortunately one person tested positive from the Saturday and then another and another. This led to our whole family being is isolation for Christmas. It was the worst Christmas ever! On Christmas Day Richard and I drove to our daughters house. We placed their Christmas presents on their front lawn then had to stand back and watch our grandchildren open their presents from a distance. It was horrible not to be able to give them a hug for Christmas.

Our son and his family were not able to go to his in-laws for Christmas as planned. It really was the strangest Christmas.

We did manage to drive to our place in the Snowy Mountains for New Year for a few days however it was a very quiet one with just us, our daughter and her three children and our friends Sally & Kevin.

We set off on 7th January 2022 in our motorhome to travel to our Annual Family Water Ski Holiday at Grabine on Wyangala Dam. This annual event has been going for over 40 years and sees some 70 of Richard’s family get together each year. We were a bit hesitant about going this year although everyone agreed to do a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) or PCR test and be negative before they could go. Everyone was also double-vaccinated. What could go wrong?

We camped the first night at Bigga Recreation Ground. This is a campground provided by the local community and you can stay for up to 3 days for free. There is a dump point and potable water. The area is a large one with lots of rooms for multiple RV’s. Sadly the amenities block had been vandalised and was closed waiting on repairs. Fortunately we are fully self-contained and don’t need to use the amenities. The amenities block has toilets and hot showers and, hopefully, it will be repaired quickly. Why would anyone want to vandalise an amenities block? I just don’t get that at all!

That night a huge storm blew in and our young granddaughter thought it was extra cozy sleeping up in the Luton with the sound of the heavy rain on the roof.

We had a fabulous week of water skiing and catching up with family from all over, including a few who have been living in the UK for the last couple of years. As I said before, everyone was double-vaccinated and had a negative RAT or PCR test before they came. I suppose it was a little inevitable that someone would test positive and, sure enough, that’s what happened. One tested positive then another then another and so on. I became sick on our way home and was out of action for the next week feeling very unwell. Sure enough a PCR test showed I was positive for Covid. Luckily our house is two stories and I was able to stay in isolation upstairs whilst Richard lived downstairs. I am now at Day 21 since my positive PCR test and I am finally starting to feel better. I had a lingering cough, felt like I had a cold and was extremely tired all the time.

So many of our families have now had Covid and tiredness is the most lingering symptom.

Usually when we return home from a trip the Motorhome gets unpacked, cleaned thoroughly and the outside is given a good wash however this time it sat in our driveway for a couple of weeks until I felt well enough to get to it. Finally she is all clean and shiny now and ready for our next adventure.

Has Covid affected your family?