My Fear Share

I am experimenting with various changes to my diet, with milk currently under the spotlight, and this isn’t to make any kind of environmental statement but more to do with my own personal health. During the past 18 months I have been dealing with respiratory and digestive issues to varying degrees and these manifests themselves in symptoms like a recurring cough and bloating. I don’t know if I have issues such as allergies or lactose intolerance, therefore I want to make changes without being too impacted by taste, convenience or nutritional value. People who know me know that I don’t have a vegan or vegetarian agenda (quite the opposite actually) but my health choices over the next 20+ years will determine how many of those + years there are!  

As a child I grew up on a diet that included full cream cow milk and I recall a shift to green top and/or ‘lite’ blue top milk as being touted as being better for us. Over time I slowly returned to full cream milk and on reflection this may have occurred at a similar time to when there was a negative shift in my health…hmm food (or milk) for thought.

I only consume milk at breakfast time and this is to accompany my muesli therefore approximately 200ml per day. I never skip having breakfast and I think breakfast (plus a bucket of black coffee) sets me up for the day ahead.

This trial of milk varieties is very unscientific and the outcome will be purely judged by taste, cost and data on the nutritional information panel, and so far I have to say that soy milk has come out on top in the short time that I have been considering options.

I did some minor research as I’m writing this post today and this site came up: https://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20180201/cow-soy-or-almond-which-milk-is-best-for-you#1

I know this source of information is unreliable and can be distorted by the vested interest groups that fund such ‘research’ as the dairy industry therefore should be digested with a grain of salt added…

In past week I have experienced or observed on TV the following:

NSW Health’s actions re tracing travellers from New Zealand and having them tested and isolated

WA going into a five day lockdown

NSW relaxing the requirements regarding wearing masks in shops and supermarkets

VIC announcing last night about a new case in Melbourne and therefore an immediate tightening of restrictions, but not yet going into lockdown (although I think it is coming)

The significant and harsh criticism by each state towards the other states regarding how they have acted in handling Covid measures.

What does this tell me…

We are living this pandemic hour by hour, and we (NSW) could be thrown into lockdown or more restrictions at any time. If that were to happen I don’t think this would have any implications with my return travel plans in mid-March unless my flight is cancelled.

Since the restrictions were lifted here a few days ago we have been able to go shopping without wearing masks, and I was pleasantly surprised just how many people were continuing to do so (about 2/3rds). This has gradually reduced over the several days to now be only about 1/3 of people wearing masks and you can see a significant rise in complacency regarding scanning in the QR codes at each shop.

On public transport we must still wear a mask even while standing on train platforms and at bus stops. I am seeing 100% compliance on the trains but very disappointed with people on buses. The number of people who are allowed on without a mask, remove their mask once on or who pushed their mask down around their throats so that they can talk on phones is very high.

Come on NSW, lift your game.  

During the time that I’ve been in Sydney I have experienced a variable and unstable internet. I know it’s not the hardware that I’m using because it is an iPhone 12, and the school laptop is an HP Elitebook that is only 24 months old. I have just completed a Zoom call (as this is the first day of school and I wanted to welcome all the kids back) and it was very poor quality. I fell off at one point and we needed to restart. This was awful compared to what we are all used to in New Zealand, especially if you are able to take advantage of fibre and ultrafast speeds, so I decided to do multiple speedtests on both the laptop (using the apartment’s Wi-Fi) and on my phone (using 4G). The results were almost identical:

The first is from the laptop…

…and the second is from my phone.

It is fair to say that I am grateful for the vision that our consecutive governments have used regarding the investments in the infrastructure. In NZ we are paying for very impressive speeds of 100+ mbps at a monthly rate that is cheaper than the Australians are paying, and they are getting less than 10 mbps (and this is after the Australians have just completed their upgrades!).

Now that we have become reliant on the internet for all our media i.e. TV, gaming, music, social media etc. we are taking for granted what we have access to, however we should be thankful because we have one of the best services in the world. Remember this next time you’re waiting less than 8 seconds for Netflix or Disney+ to load…

One of the issues I am adjusting to in Australia is the difficulty with accents, especially when everyone has been wearing facemasks.  One such issue came about when I was at Macquarie Centre and entering Uniqlo (which is a Japanese unisex clothing store) and this shop was one of the few that insisted on taking the temperature of the customers before you scanned the QR code and entered the store. While the lovely young Asian assistant was scanning me she said “nice nipples”! What did I just hear? Really?

She must have seen the confused look on my face as I looked down and scanned my shirt front to see what the issue was, because she repeated what she had said. This time she simultaneously pointed to my basalt carving and said “nice necklace”. Confusion with language can be a funny and awkward at the same time…

I am determined that I am not going to develop couch sores while I’m here, nor am I going to eat so poorly that I grow into the Michelin Man. I am enjoying walking places instead of just jumping on the bus or train, however I am only able to do this when Lucy is at ballet as she does not need to be expending unnecessary energy outside of the ballet studio. By Thursday afternoon we no longer needed to isolate but by then there was only enough time to go as far as the supermarket. I’ll take that – anything to be outside again even though it wasn’t even 48hrs in our apartment cellblock. How am I going to cope for 14 days in MIQ in Auckland?

On Friday I walked to Macquarie Centre despite the showers that hung around all day. The return trip is 10km and a really good workout, both for me and the audio book that I’m listing to (another Jack Reacher novel – Die Trying). I’m back at the apartment in time for Lucy’s 3.30pm finish. On Saturday I wanted to do it all again because I wanted to buy a scarf that I saw in David Jones, however the morning was still intermittent showers so we waited until just after lunch. This time Lucy came to the Centre as well but she took the bus and I walked. It works for me because I get the exercise I want and she is getting good practise at being on public transport without me.

Today is Sunday and I am keen to walk to Chatswood Shopping Centre and Lucy will take the train. There is a Kmart there and Lucy is chomping at the bit for her Kmart fix. It is almost 7km just to get there so if I can manage the full round trip I am going to be very happy.

I am hoping that the healthy diet and exercise will help my sleep patterns but as yet this isn’t the case. I could put this down to apartment noises and the heat however sleeping longer is preferred.  

Lucy needs to be fully aware of her nutrition and less concerned about exercise, whereas for me it is the other way around i.e. I need to be fully aware of the exercise I’m doing and less concerned about nutrition.  So the right thing for me to do is to join Lucy regarding nutrition. What does this mean? In the two weeks that we have been here there has been no chocolate, alcohol, energy drinks, biscuits or ice cream. The food selection is more salad based with chicken being the protein (and ham as a treat alternative). Pasta has been the easy option while we were setting up and working out menu preferences and now wraps are my preferred option. I am now trialing a rye variety, although these are rectangular in shape and this concerns Lucy quite a bit.

For me this change in diet is a kind of detox programme, and to maximise this I’ve reduced by half the amount of coffee I also consume each day. For those who know me really well the absence of chocolate and the reduction in coffee is huge for me. The only vice left that is frowned upon is Diet Coke and I know how fond Lucy is of this therefore it will stay.

The end of the day reward treat is Greek yoghurt with banana. Yes Lauren I know it’s been your ‘go to’ for a long time and I have been slow to the party but now I’m on board. I have to say that the Australian grown bananas are far superior to anything we get in New Zealand supermarkets. They are really tasty and sweet and will be the second thing I miss when I leave here in six weeks.

I have mixed feelings about how Covid is being managed in both New Zealand and Australia.  Firstly we were allowed to travel to Australia without needing to quarantine and for that I am grateful. The ‘one way’ travel bubble worked in our favour and I had been hoping that by the time I return in mid-March the full bubble would be operating. Now I’m not so sure, and its highly likely that I will be in 14 day MIQ. 

The NSW Health have an App similar to the NZ Covid Tracing App but it is not as easy to use as ours.  The NSW version is ‘hidden’ within a multi-purpose App that has other non-covid functions and does not have Bluetooth.

Now we have a community case in Northland. I believe that this woman was able to interact with new arrivals quite close to the time she was ready to be released with her second negative test and if this is the case then we have serious problems in how we manage our MIQ!  This community case has caused flights to be cancelled for 72 hours, tears at the airport for people who thought they were able to travel and for those that were literally in the air are now in Australian MIQ. There are businesses in Northland that need to shut because of this as well. People’s lives, businesses and freedoms all affected by poor management at MIQ.

The NSW Health App works (especially because both Lucy and I had loaded our Australian numbers onto there). On Monday we both had an email and a phone call from NSW Health confirming our details, asking about our movements and our health. That was impressive. Later that day I see on the NZ Herald site that we need to isolate and get tested because we travelled from New Zealand to Australia during a particular window of time. We safely assumed that we would receive a call from NSW Health if that was the case. They called. It was late Tuesday and it was Australia Day holiday so we were told that we had to isolate and get tested in the morning. We need to stay in isolation until we get a negative result.

I look on line to see where the nearest testing stations are and all of the sites that are within a 4km walking distance are for drive thru testing. You must remain in your car it says? We don’t have a car! They only sites that allowed you to walk in (and not need an appointment) were either a bus or train ride away…how risky is that! We left the apartment at 7am and took the 20min train ride to Hornsby Hospital which opened at 8am.

After being poked and prodded in the mouth and both nostrils we were both done quite quickly (we were first in line). After returning by train to the apartment in Gordon we now wait for the results. Our tests are to be given priority because of our connection to Northland but may still take a couple of days. Good thing we stocked up the fridge just in case…

Fortunately we can walk from the apartment in Merriwa St in Gordon to The Conlan College in Pymble. It takes about 15 minutes depending on the traffic, however, I wouldn’t call it the most pleasant journey because of a the Pacific Highway and construction sites. There is also elevations to contend with too.

The walking that I have been doing from Conlan to St Ives is significantly better for the most part as I wander through leafy streets filled with multi-million dollar homes. It too becomes less appealing when it connects to the A3 main arterial road.

The other location of mention so far this week that is worth mapping is the Macquarie Centre. After this week’s heatwave is over I will walk that too as part of the exercise options available to me.

Last day of the first week here in Australia.  It’s Saturday and the start of our four days off. I thought Lucy would like a trip in to Sydney CBD so we went by train. Lucy isn’t big on doing touristy things so apart from checking out the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the opera house she was quite done, and it was too hot.

To cool down she wanted an iced chocolate so I took her to the Lindt Café in Martin Place – yes the site of a very unfortunate terrorist attack in December 2014, but you wouldn’t know except for two small plaques to commemorate the two people who died.

We decided to not waste the rest of the day by just going back to the apartment so we took the train to Chatswood Shopping Centre which is on our way back to Gordon. It’s huge. I think Lucy could have spent all day there if she had the energy.

The first week is now over and it can be considered a success. In the coming days this blog will focus more on themes such as Covid, Australia Day, comparisons between Australia and New Zealand and events such as what is happening back at home…

Last day of the dance week before a four day long weekend due to Australia Day on Tuesday. I drop Lucy off but don’t go in again before heading off for another 4km walk to for another walk.

St Ives is a great walk for exercise but I’ve decided that I don’t have much need for what St Ives offers. I’m not old enough as the locals could be best described as more of the retiring sector of society. I get there, I rest and then I return. While I’m waiting for Lucy I have enough time to cool down and listen to more of my audio book – a memoir written by Erin Lee Carr about her dad. I think I recommend it.

When Lucy has finished she needed to organise the Conlan gear: 2 leotards, a tutu, a chiffon skirt and a tracksuit = $445Au thanks very much.  Just add it to the bill.

The surprise for us was on our walk back up Bridge St to go home. We almost stood on a local which was enjoying the hot sun on the footpath. We were unsure about its nature so we gave it quite a lot space.

It is about 40cm long and I think it is a western blue-tongued lizard. I don’t care what colour it’s tongue is…I’m not keen to find out!