Happy Monday! 

I hope you had a great weekend.

Tj and I had a pretty productive weekend. We went for a few walks, went to lunch, and even went to Ikea on a Saturday afternoon (what were we thinking haha). Covid restrictions have lifted even more in Melbourne and we pretty much don't need to wear masks at all anymore. Even in the grocery store! It feels so strange. 

I am finally getting around to writing about the trip we took just before Christmas 2020. In December we took our first trip since March 2020! We must've been rusty travelers because the trip got off to a bit of a rocky start.

For the first time ever, Tj and I missed a flight! I blame baby brain haha. We misread the time on our boarding pass and thought the departure time was the boarding time. So when we got to the airport, we missed the cut-off for bag drop by one minute! We had a printout from the kiosk and it was literally one minute! If we had known how close we were we would have been able to make it for sure. But unfortunately, by the time we got assistance, it was too late and we had to pay to change to the next flight -  more than three hours later! And we weren't able to check in until two hours before the flight, so we had to hang out in the boring part of the airport. It was the first sign that this trip would not go as we planned. 

It felt so good to be traveling again! But it was also so weird. The airport was so quiet. A lot of the shops and kiosks were closed and there were hardly any people. They were big on social distancing in the line ups and in the throughout airport but as soon as we were on the plane we were squished in like sardines. It was such mixed messaging haha. Tj and I wiped everything down and kept our masks on for the whole flight (thankfully it was a short one). 

The first stop on our trip was Byron Bay! 

This is one of our Aussie favourites. We had to work while we were there and Tj found us the best Airbnb with an amazing view. There was so much space for us to spread out and work. This was perfect because it ended up raining all week so we spent a lot more time indoors than we were expecting. It wasn't just a little bit of rain…. It was the most rain they’ve had in years. Byron's main beach was completely destroyed. You can read a bit about it here. I personally found it so relaxing to sleep to the sound of rain on the roof, but it kept Tj up because it was so loud. 

We still tried to make the most of it, and honestly, we were just so grateful to have a change of scenery and not be in our apartment. We stayed in a town just outside of Byron and they had lots of great little cafes and restaurants. Tj was able to get a Melbourne standard coffee every morning. And no one wears shoes ever. In restaurants and grocery stores and shops, it’s perfectly acceptable to see kids and adults of all ages barefoot. I love it!

We made it to the beach once but the weather forecast for the rest of our trip was showing a lot more rain.

And around the same time, there were some Covid cases popping up around Sydney. We were in the state of New South Wales, but our flight home was from Queensland. We had to monitor the news every day, and when it looked like they would be shutting borders we decided to pivot and cut our time in Byron Bay and go to the Sunshine Coast instead.

More about that part of our trip next time, but enjoy a few photos from the first leg of the trip below!

Have a great week :)