Shall the Aussie Mumsnetters have a thread to chat a bit?

[HennyPennyHorror]

I suppose AIBU to put this here...but it IS the busiest area. I just thought...I'd see if there were any other MNrs in Oz who'd like a little chat thread together?

I feel so sorry for the all tourist-town hoteliers who were hoping for a busy Easter to make up for the income nixed by the bushfires. oh I know. If it feels grim in the cities imagine the country towns. Unable to do much, every city visitor a threat instead of a welcome economic rescuer. Easter would have been a boom without coronavirus.

The plan to quarantine people in hotels is a good one because a) it can be enforced and b) it will keep those hotels in business and people employed. Unfortunately, those hotels are going to be in cities rather than in country tourist towns.

Echt - Glad to hear you are feeling better now school is out. I’m enjoying the homeschooling memes and the fact that people who think teaching is a recipe for an easy life are having problems teaching their children in classes of 2 or 3 or 4. Bet that will all be forgotten very quickly when schools reopen though.

It is a beautiful day today. I'm in nw Melbourne. We had been hoping to pop down to sister in law's empty house in Anglesea, but it has become clear this week that it is time to stay home and off the roads.

I'm in Sydney and glorious day here today. Went into Woolworths earlier and it was so busy. Haven't been out for a week and had expected it to be much quieter. Kids are home schooling - their school is doing a virtual Easter had parade which is going to be fun!

Ooh hello. I'm in Melbourne too, welcome @timeisnotaline

We've been self isolating for a few weeks ever since we had a scare with coming into contact with someone later diagnosed + DP getting sick. Turned out fine, but frankly I don't rate the public health advice we're getting that it's fine to carry on getting haircuts 🙄 so we've been staying in aside from supermarket + exercise.

It's so beautiful here today, for the first time in three weeks I feel my resolve being tested. We live close to a popular park and I've been running around there. It's pretty disappointing seeing the number of people still gathering with their friends - it's possible that some of them are households exercising together, but it's hard to believe that's true of groups of 10 on picnic rugs sharing wine, or a woman with a dog rushing up to her friend with a dog shouting "oh HI how ARE you" like I saw on Thursday. Just like those photos from St Kilda yesterday, I think a lot of people still don't get it, and the poor political communication has a lot to answer for

Timeisnotaline, south-east suburbs, by the bay. A lovely if confusing day. I took the dog down to the beach for a walk. Signs outside the beach saying welcome but keep your distance. Very few people and massive social distancing.The police arrived and told everyone they needed to get off the beach. One man told me they'd said if you were walking it was OK, just no towels. I was walking, I had no towels. Mixed messages or what?

I'm not blaming the police, they have enough on their plate, but clarity would help.

Lang another aspect of the last term, and loads of staff mentioned it, was the anxiety of thinking/planning for something that might/not happen while still doing the daily work. The mental bandwidth wasn't sufficient to take the load.:o

Maybe we should all donate and buy Jacinda a one-way ticket

Sorry, we are keeping her!! A friendly wave and a from over the ditch!

I went out for a solo walk this morning (Brisbane). Was surprised to see the numbers of people gathering in groups with their dogs. I'm not convinced the physical distancing is not being adhered to.

eaglejulesk

Oh come on, don't be mean...weren't you taught to share??

Waving back and hope you have a good day...well as good as you can under the circumstances.

PM is talking again but a lot of it is misspeaking. I understand that he is under a lot of stress at the moment but can we please get him a lesson in public speaking (and not smirking). Presentation really does affect the messaging.

Thanks for the update Lang, I've given up watching.

I also have given up watching and just wait for the ABC news to summarise it for me.
Lazy, but watching him infuriates me. I can't stand sitting through all the self-promoting waffle at the start. Just get to the point man.

I went out for a solo walk this morning (Brisbane). Was surprised to see the numbers of people gathering in groups with their dogs. I'm not convinced the physical distancing is not being adhered to

I know what you mean. I walked my dog early today and saw two dog walking friends and just remembered not to go near them, in line with the two only rule. There were two other groups where pairs of people stood at a safe distance but in a group of four. They don't seem to get it that this made them four, safe distance or not. Aaargh.

Urgent Breaking News - the local Coles has toilet paper again for the first time in at least two weeks!

It’s a beautiful, sunny day here but I haven’t ventured further than the balcony.

Is anyone else keeping an (expat) eye on things in the UK as well as Australia and getting confused as a result? I‘ve been talking to DH and have apparently been giving him the wrong (UK) based info when we are talking about Aus.

More confusion reigns. Apparently you can only be in public with one other person. Unless it's your household in which case, knock yourself out: two, three, four, six it's all good.

@WindyRose - ha, ha - I don't do sharing!!!! Hope you are doing okay too. We've had one sunny day in lockdown, and every other day has been cloudy and/or raining. Oh well, a good excuse not to get up early

@Eaglejulesk Sunny and warm here today too although rain forecast for the next couple of days. Have been housebound for 4 years and just when I thought that was in the past and about to resume 'normal' life, along comes CV with even more isolation.

Ah well, just means I spend more time in the sewing room....will have lots of new clothes to wear when this is all over!!

Lang...I was able to order loo paper from Coles today but won't know if it arrives until tomorrow (Tues). Fingers crossed, as I first tried to buy it over 4 weeks ago without success. Online order is missing heaps of items I want/need so I guess their stock isn't yet replenished.

I can’t order anything for delivery from either coles or woolies here. (It’s only open to vulnerable people or over 65’s)

Morrison is a waffling muppet.

We are going to the shops way too often, through sheer disorganisation. Most people around here are distancing well though.
I’m keeping up roughly with the U.K., wake up to 100 messages every morning. But my sisters there, another one in Seattle and my brother in France so we get a range of views.

I had to go back into work today to do a dumb piece of admin that my boss thought was important. It was weird being in our big building with 5 people in it instead of 50. All the freeway signs in Melbourne saying 'Go Home'.

That's annoying @StartupRepair. Hopefully the big fine will deter your boss from trying to drag you back in again - I just saw a bar in Fitzroy got fined 10k for staying open!

I keep getting confused because I'm trying to keep up with the restrictions in the UK, NZ, Victoria and Australia as a whole. At least Vic is pretty aligned with NZ and UK now.

Saw a pack of police cruising around the park when I went for a run this morning. I wish they'd do something about people crowding the footpaths outside the takeaway coffee window, I had to go into the road to avoid them.

Lol. I actually work for a part of law enforcement!

The enforced stay at home has given me a greater appreciation of my balcony. I’ve spent far too long trawling Pinterest and fantasy shopping! A key element is plants. Green stuff. You know, the stuff that dies when I so much as glance in its general direction.

I like the idea of a small tree/very large shrub in the corner and lots of hanging baskets everywhere else.

Can anyone make some suggestions for outdoor pot plants that are unkillable? What grows like a weed in Australia?

Spider plants. Aspidistra, though they are stupidly expensive considering how easy they are to grow. For a small tree try mandarin/lemon.

I think it's easy to be confused as the 'rules' make little sense.
A man today was sitting in a field all alone and was fined, yet you can still go and get a hair cut and send your children to school/childcare?
Anyway, I'm quite liking the whole social distancing thing myself. I've been home for 8 days solid, I nipped out to Coles today and liked having the space around me, especially when queuing. Can we please keep some of these rules once this is all over?!