This pandemic we’re experiencing, it’s as far reaching as a sunset on the horizon. It’s casting its uncertainty like a storm cloud over the world, countries, suburbs and towns. Our beloved seaside Warrnambool has not even been spared. It is threatening livelihoods, security, health and loved ones.

‘Stay indoors’ is the message we’re being delivered over and over. Only leave your homes for essentials, to get groceries, medical care and possibly work, for exercise in small numbers. What’s been asked of us is no mean feat. On a personal level, being at home with 2 young children, I have felt my sanity slip on the odd occasion during this time, so accustomed to making the most of our glorious playgrounds, outdoor spaces and the odd baby cino date to change our scenery and re-group. Right now re-grouping looks like taking toys to the front room instead of the usual play room, moving from playing in the front yard to the backyard and taking the odd walk around the block.

But while we’re all in isolation, staring at the same four walls and in so, doing our part to protect the health of those around us and to help make this whole debacle pass as quickly as possible, I remember that beyond my address and your address is an abundance of peacefulness, of life, of solitude in the natural spaces in and around our humble town of Warrnambool. Beyond our addresses were daily rituals, activities and places that perhaps we took a little for granted before this all began.

The annual migration of the majestic whales will pass by our oceanic front door soon. Whilst they won’t notice the empty whale watching platform this year at Logan’s Beach, perhaps next year we will all linger there a little longer instead of a hurried trip in hopes to catch a glimpse of a passing Mum and Calf.

The abundance of wildlife at Towerhill are none the wiser to our current struggles. Perhaps they wonder where all the visitors are, why it’s so quiet all of a sudden. Maybe when all is said and done with this virus, we’ll go to Towerhill and look to the trees and surrounds with a new gratitude for the fresh air they provide us, with gratitude for the solitude we can find within the wide open space there.

Will we let our kids have that extra five minutes playing at Lake Pertobe that they so desperately want, because for however long this lasts we’ve seen their confused little faces when we explain that they can’t play there ‘because of the germs, honey’, too young to understand the complexity of the situation.

Will we thank our local baristas a little more sincerely, smile wider, find out their names and drink our cuppas a little slower, because all this time we’ve had to suffer through drinking more instant coffee than we’d like and didn’t realise how much we missed that little hint of social interaction in our day.

There are so many ways in which this pandemic we’ve gotten ourselves into is tearing us down. It’s up to us to decide, when it’s all said and done, how we want to rebuild ourselves, our homes, our beloved town. So while we sit at home in isolation, lets not forget the absolute abundance of beauty, nature, spaces and places our Warrnambool backyard holds. It’s all still there waiting for us to enjoy on the flipside, so if we have to be in isolation anywhere, I’m thankful that it is here.

“In the rush to return to normal, lets use this time to consider which parts of normal are worth rushing back to”.

Read another of Leah's blogs 'Little Walks - Thunder Point to Shelly Beach' here