In NSW, with no lockdown in place, everyone continued living life as usual. Rock climbing in the Spud mountains was popular. Those new to the sport practised on Choc Chip Mountain before moving to a more challenging climb on icy Donut Peak.

The Plan

Fed-up with self-isolation, unemployed, and not seeing family or friends, when the extension to lockdown was announced, Tom decided to leave Victoria and head to Queensland. Though the border to NSW remained closed, he vowed to take his canoe and slip across the border under the cover of darkness. 

Pushing off into the Murray River from Wodonga, he silently slipped into Albury. Arriving undetected, he concealed his canoe under branches on the river bank and went looking for breakfast. Coming across a waterworks crew repairing a sewer pipe, he asked for directions to a cafe.

Tom’s mate Bill lived in northern NSW and had plenty to do on the weekend. So on the morning, Tom slipped into Albury, Bill took the local scout troop out hiking. Unlike in Victoria, camping was still allowed, though finding a suitable spot to camp in the Breadline Mountains was proving difficult, and unexpected snow meant the troop lost the track. So while the troop waited back at camp, Bill went for help through Sweet Potato Canyon. 

While Bill was seeking help, Bill’s sister Beryl and the family took to the slopes.

Meanwhile back in Victoria……….

Very few pulled a sick day in Victoria unless they were actually ill. Going to work meant you could actually get out of the house and be more than 5kms from home. However, you had to show proof if you came across a random police check.

Consumption of food and alcohol had exploded in iso, and keeping up with the supply of olives for pizzas and martinis was a never-ending task. It was made doubly difficult when Tom didn’t show up for his weekend shift. The supervisor was demanding to know where the hell was he?

Tom was actually making good time. Passing himself off as a Danish backpacker named Tomas, who was stuck here when the borders closed, he hitched a lift with a truck taking local Melbourne parcels to Sydney via Adelaide for sorting. Not wanting to go near Sydney, he asked the driver to drop him off in Goulburn.   Tom then spent a warm, dry night in Paper Mill Caves before heading off again at sunrise towards Orange.

Days End

Tom had walked to Wayo and then been lucky to pick up a ride with a passing car. The driver was a strange, tin foil hat-wearing person on their way to camp out in the Blue Mountains until the pandemic was over. They explained that with no 5G towers inside the national park, that Covid-19 would never reach there. Parting ways with the driver in Trunkey Creek, Tom found an abandoned house and set up his swag for the night.

After a well-deserved sleep-in, Tom headed to the Black Stump hotel for a hearty country breakfast. Then, having eaten a double serve of baked beans he decided to walk for the first hour or two before trying to hitch a lift again.   Once beyond the black stump he passed a bushwalker on their way to the Black stump, after that, the only company he had was the crows flying overhead and following him down the road.

On to Part two

The post Tom’s Amazing Adventures – Pt One appeared first on Bevlea Ross Photography.

Photoshop and Luminar

My passport is Adobe Photoshop, and my mode of transport is Luminar 4. This time, luggage wasn’t a problem, nor was choosing what to wear. I made the entire trip in my pyjamas during lockdown 2020.

I gathered together images from previous holidays, fired up Photoshop and Luminar, settled into my desk chair with a coffee, and took off!

Arctic Circle

First stop was the Arctic circle – I had signed on to repatriate three lost polar bears. The boatswain took one look at my pyjamas and handed me a puffy jacket. Then, while he steered, I took photos for posterity.

Leaving the bears safely on a genetically modified ice floe (guaranteed not to melt), we jumped on a plane and headed for Cairns. Queensland. The sunshine state. No lockdown 2020 in Qld. Currently locked tighter than a chastity belt against anyone from Victoria or NSW.

Sunny Cairns

The sun was rising as we arrived and settled in. waving goodbye to Biggles as he flew away from our cuckoo nest. We spent a pleasant and warm few hours in Cairns – then hopped a hot air balloon and headed to New Zealand.

Drifting across the Tasman, we hovered over Melbourne briefly (who would want to land there!?) and watched the space shuttle take off from Princes Pier.

Stonehenge, UK

Our hot air balloon then dropped us at Stonehenge in the UK. We had heard a confluence of druids coming in on Samhain night to attempt a ritual, to drive out the virus. Unfortunately, it was unsuccessful, so the druids headed back to Avalon to report to the lady of the lake.

We bid adieu to our balloon pilot and boarded a flight for Norway. The northern lights were illuminating the skies as we flew over the fjords.

We landed briefly to stretch our legs and had a short visit with Rudolf. He was on holiday from the North Pole – he figures Christmas is cancelled this year, so he was backpacking around Europe.

To be Continued.……..

The post Imaginary Travel – Lockdown 2020 appeared first on Bevlea Ross Photography.