Can we ever leave? NSW has just extended its current lockdown for a further 2 weeks – until Friday, July 30 – and even that seems optimistic to us. Delta strain and forgetting to stay-at-home are taking their toll. No great surprise because we don’t want to stay-at-home either! There must be a silver lining!

Good news – there are at least two silver linings coming our way. The first is that we have not yet let the flat. That might sound bad but the idea of having to vacate and decamp to the chilly and damp Lane Cove caravan park without a caravan has very little appeal. Then again, every silver lining has a cloud – “we have not yet let the flat”. Inspections aren’t really in the spirit of lockdown, so no wonder it’s slow. I foresee a big price reduction!

The real silver lining is coming in the guise of a new, customised, super-duper awning which, if reports are true (unlikely…), is leaving Maroonsland today and will be delivered to Erina by Friday. If this actually occurs and it gets fitted, it’s possible that ATGANI will be complete next week – I mean actually and truly complete. The whizz-bang self-levelling system is being installed today. The incorrect cassette toilet has been removed and the correct composting toilet is ready to go. All the electricals are working. Naturally, we cannot legitimately travel to see if all or any of this is true – but I have high hopes.

Therefore, the planets are aligning and much appears to point to a departure 2 weeks after lockdown ends, followed by a desperate dash across the Queensland border the very moment it opens up to us. What could possibly go wrong?