Hello again from self-isolation residence at down under. It is about a month since last post since the current situation does not initiate a lot of interesting events or sightseeing. Before all this started, I was planning that the Easter weekend would be a great first opportunity for me to go and see some new place outside Melbourne. Instead like everybody else, I was just home. Currently the free time activities are quite limited to Yle Areena, Disney+, Netflix, YouTube, PC games, running, biking and grocery shopping. Of course, I have read the great variety of news subjects around the world. Maybe I should have a day or two without reading any news sites or watch any other news but maybe Finnish evening news.
I have grown a habit of splitting my workdays to two parts for most days. I have found it quite good to have daily run or a bike ride before eating lunch. Also going do the groceries in the middle of the day after a bike ride is good way to have less people in the nearby supermarket. Since last post I have improved much on the running with my knee. There are still those days when it is not good to run, but more and more I have been able to improve the pace. The muscle balance between the legs is still off, so more squats and other leg exercises are needed. There have been also nice bike routes that I have found, which on weekends seem quite popular. I have noticed though that there are no illuminated bike paths at all, and many suburban streets have very poor lighting. Also, the sidewalks condition varies a lot so after one run after sunset is enough for me.
Now that the winter is closing in here, the weather has been occasionally almost the same as in southern Finland’s spring. As the windows in this apartment are from floor to ceiling and they are only two-layered, the cold can be felt through the glass. I have had to set the air conditioning to heat every now and then. For May here it has been record-low temperatures when the temperature has been just about 10°C. Also, the amount of rain from start of the year has broken records in this state, but coming from Finland this winter, I haven’t noticed. 😁 The mountains also got first snow as this week there is about 30cm of snow.
I’m waiting and hoping the point of that traveling inside the country gets allowed so I can actually see a little bit more than the close neighbourhood. Also there have been talks between Australia and New Zealand that they might be the first locations people could travel between. It might be realistic expectations that during this year these would be the only places I can travel. But I think I would be satisfied enough if I get to see New Zealand and some other parts of Australia. Any longer flight might wait the point when I return to Finland as the price to fly may be a bit higher for a while when long international flights are even allowed. But for now, I’m staying safe and healthy from the confines of home. And also having #RemoteworkBeardChallenge, which means just letting it grow as long as we are remote working.
Setting sun in Royal Park 
Evening sky over Maribyrnong River 
My bike and the city silhouette 
Beardie 
City sihouette from Lily Reserve 
Galahs, the most common cockatoo in Australia 
Almost like being in Finland, seeing a birch 
Camourflaged house in Ascot Vale
Jone's adventures Down Under 
Good to hear from you! Hanging there pretty well!
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