Our lockdown explorations of the local area continue! We are fortunate to live in an area with easy access to nature and outdoor activities. Today, we took advantage of nice weather and the school holidays to hire a three person canoe from the Woronora Boatshed and take a relaxed paddle up the river.

We live on a peninsula between the Woronora and the Georges River, the two merging at the tip. Woronora township sits along the river, many houses right on the waterfront with their own jetties. Elsewhere along the valley bushland and sandstone boulders line the steep sides. Where we paddled was tidal saltwater.

Mullets leapt out of the water, mallard ducks glided down, landing with a splash. The waters were a little busy with other canoes, kayaks and motorboats, some going a little too fast. Further up the river a dog tore through the water chasing a stick, while teenage girls prepared to sunbake by a secluded beach.

When the motorboats had passed it was peaceful. We could have been anywhere, it certainly didn’t feel like part of a city of millions.

After a detour up Loftus Creek we returned the boat and had a picnic lunch at a nearby park. Many other families were doing the same while kids kicked balls or shot sucker arrows, all respectful of the restrictions. Older kids jumped off the pedestrian bridge into the still cold waters of the first month of spring.

We returned home, for I still had work to do, sticky and salty from the splashed water. The others slept in the afternoon while I worked, then Alex joined me for our karate lesson over Zoom. I felt like the exercise of paddling had done me good.

One negative of being locked down to our own local government area is the lack of good Asian food in the Sutherland Shire. With Alex hungry for pho, we gave the only Vietnamese restaurant in our area a go for a takeaway dinner tonight. We had been put off by its somewhat westernised menu and higher prices than in adjacent suburbs, but it was pretty good. I look forward to ordering from the adjacent Indian restaurant as well. After cooking so much at home, we hunger for variety, despite our own range of cuisines.

It’s good to get outdoors, to do something different. Though more freedoms are coming soon, it has been worthwhile discovering our own small patch of the world.