Project COVID Skies - Part 24

October 18, 2020 Geoffrey O'Hearn

Welcome to what is hopefully the last edition of Project COVID Skies. Ok, maybe not last as in, I will probably do some future editions with a best of and also document anything of note, but hopefully the last in terms of the original project premise of continuing this project whilst in stage 3 restrictions or higher.

As this project started 2 weeks after our initial lockdown started it also signifies a total of 6 months that Melbourne has been under stage 3 or higher restrictions.

Today 18th October 2020, the Victorian government has announced the easing of a number of restrictions effective from midnight tonight. Our 5km travel restriction will be increased to 25km and the restriction of being allowed out for just 2 hours has also been removed. Thus, the criteria for my project will be no longer in place and I can get out and take photographs of something else.

These announcements have come just as the last few days have seen very low new case numbers across Victoria. The new case numbers from Monday 12th October 2020 - Sunday 18th October 2020 are; 14, 10, 6, 4, 2, 0 and 2. The total for the week was just 38 and there is a total of 137 active cases currently in Victoria. 12 people remain in hospital, the are 0 in ICU and in the last week just 6 people have sadly passed away.

In other news the New Zealand bubble has commenced with NSW and the NT. This is a one way bubble with no need to quarantine on arrival into Australia, however quarantine will be required on entry to back to NZ. This bubble has created a few feathers to be ruffled as a number of people who came in from NZ have made their way to Melbourne. The Victorian government is a bit upset by that, however the Victorian border is open to anyone within Australia who wants to enter it. Any people coming to Victoria will need to follow any restrictions that are in place. This also means leaving Victoria will be difficult and presently would mean quarantine in NSW before being allowed to fly to NZ to quarantine again. My suspicions are that these people probably live here and won’t be in a hurry to leave. The certainly won’t be tourists looking for site seeing in a largely deserted city.

THANK YOU to everyone who has been following along with my weekly blog and keep an eye out for future random editions of Project COVID Skies. Hopefully I will be blogging about something else soon but in the meantime I might enjoy a few weekends off and hope that there will be no need to return to Project COVID skies under the lockdown premise. Time will tell……

Project COVID Skies - Part 20

September 20, 2020 Geoffrey O'Hearn

Spring is well and truly here and the week has provided a number of warm days. Footy is this weekend up to the final round of the home and away season and the days are getting longer. Perfect time to get out the bbq and have everyone…oh that’s right, bugger. Still in lockdown.

The new case numbers are getting lower and the 14 day average has dropped below 50 new cases per day. Today has been the best result in a long time with just 14 cases. There was an outbreak in the Casey Local Government Area (my LGA) with 34 cases attributed to 5 linked families who were actively breaching the rules of stage 4 restrictions. With that outbreak included the new case numbers from Monday 14th September 2020 to Sunday 20th September in Victoria were; 37, 39, 32, 27, 42, 22 and 14. Regional Victoria have had their restrictions eased and there has been a fine introduced of about $5000 for people caught travelling from Melbourne Metro are to regional Victoria.

Case numbers everywhere else remain low and Queensland is finally opening their border to residents of the ACT. For my opinion there needs to be constructive work done between the states to open up travel to more areas that are safe to travel from. The stubbornness shown by state premiers is not helping Australia at all.

In other news, people’s desire to travel and in particular fly was perfectly demonstrated when Qantas sold out a flight in 10 minutes that is to fly from Sydney to Sydney. It is a sightseeing journey taking approximately 7 hours that will head up the coast as far as Airlie Beach in Queensland and then fly to Uluru before returning to Sydney.

Project COVID Skies - Part 5

May 3, 2020 Geoffrey O'Hearn

Another week under the COVID-19 restrictions has passed and there has been some progress with some freedoms being given back. Residents of Queensland and NSW are allowed to get out a little more, shop for non-essential items and visit some people. Social distancing is still required. The ACT has no active cases and the numbers across Australia have remained low with most cases coming from known clusters. The launch of the government’s contact app has had a steady take up with approximately 4 million downloads at this point.

Our brothers and sisters in New Zealand have also had their restrictions revised from the very strict full lock down of level 4 to level 3. It seems the thing the Kiwis missed the most was their fast food fix, or maybe just over home cooking, either way queues at fast food drive thru locations were extensive and out of the surrounding streets.

The NZ Warriors in the Rugby league today are flying direct to Tamworth to set up quarantine and base for a hopeful and eventual return to competition later in the month. The AFL is waiting a little longer for their plans to be made available. For many at home the return of sport is something to look forward to and even though these competitions will be held without crowds, it will be a welcome return for many and a fix for those craving their weekly dose of footy.

27th April 2020 4:55 pm There was not a cloud in the sky most of the afternoon.

Project COVID Skies - Part 3

April 19, 2020 Geoffrey O'Hearn

Another week has passed and the current restrictions are unchanged. The only reason to leave home is to go to the supermarket, for work or study, medical assistance and exercise.

Winter is on its way, the weather has been colder and there has been a good amount of rain.

In Victoria, the daily amount of new cases of COVID-19 has been reducing. Australia is doing quite well with the numbers reducing. Through this next week we will see if there is a spike of new cases due to Easter.

14th April 2020 7:08 am. Rainbow and Drama

Project COVID Skies - Part 1

Project COVID Skies - Part 2

April 12, 2020 Geoffrey O'Hearn

Another week has passed in effective isolation. The current restrictions mean the only time I leave the house is to go to the supermarket or for a walk to get some exercise.

Living in outer suburban Melbourne, the houses are tightly packed in together so at home there is not much to look at from left to right. The only other option is to look up at the skies.

Melbourne’s ever changing weather brings about dramatic contrast, often in the same day. It is not an exaggeration when people describe Melbourne as having four seasons in one day.

6th April 6:14 pm. The golden light of sunset breaks through the storm clouds.

7th April 2020 8:13 am. A patch of light through storm clouds

8th April 2020 8:47 pm. Miracle of miracles, the Melbourne sky is clear for a celestial event. The pink super moon is the brightest of the year. This image was not captured at the optimal time.

9th April 2020 10:43 am. Not a cloud in the sky, the only interest was the constant circling of aircraft as the flight schools operated all day long.

10th April 2020 6:46 am. The sunrise just breaking through to add a splash of colour to the sky.

11th April 2020 2:24 pm. One of those days where one minute is raining then the next sun then the next raining again.

11th April 2020 5:37 pm. The setting sun casts golden highlights on the dark clouds.

11th April 2020 5:38 pm. Seeing the light through the storm.

12th April 2020 7:01 am. Easter Sunday looking East

Project COVID Skies - Part 1

Project COVID Skies - Part 3

Project COVID Skies

April 5, 2020 Geoffrey O'Hearn

In these troubled times many people have found themselves with a lot of extra time on their hands, me not so much. Not wanting to miss out on the fun and to keep up with my creative outlet, I have decided to do what I call “project COVID skies.”

Whilst I missed the first couple of weeks of the restrictions we are now living with, it is my aim now to take a photo of the skies each and every single day. The photo must be taken from my back yard, which due to the rules around isolation is all that I can do. The purpose is to show that there is something that can be found that is interesting and worth taking a photo of each day and that whilst we are isolated, creativity does not need to stop.

What I have found is some days are harder than others, clear blue skies are uninspiring as are days where the cloud is all grey with little feature or contrast. I will show at least one image from each day. There are already and there will be more days that will provide absolute gold and therefore I will post more images from that day.

I intend to be able to post once per week. However, I am giving myself this out clause, that the frequency and timing may change.

30th March 2020 4:44 pm. Whispy clouds streaking away.

30th March 2020 4:45 pm. Whispy clouds and moon.

31st March 2020 7:42 am Sunrise. The day offered little else as the skies cleared and remained blue.

1st April 2020 7:03 pm. A very flat and grey day.

2nd April 2020 8:00 am. Another flat day, I was happy to find this drama in the sky.

3rd April 2020 7:25 am Sunrise. Fire dances across the sky.

3rd April 2020 10:41 am. Loving the patterns across the sky.

3rd April 2020 6:25 pm. Such drama! Looks like it could have been taken from a plane.

4th April 2020 8:02 am. Heart of the skies

4th April 2020 6:45 pm. After a day of solid rain the skies bring on drama.

4th April 2020 6:58 pm. The orange contrast perfectly with the blue sky as the front rapidly moves past.

4th April 2020 6:59 pm. In the opposite direction fire explodes across the sky.

4th April 2020 7:08pm. There is still lots of drama to close out the day. Daylight savings ends tonight.

5th April 2020 11:30 am. Very flat with consistent rain. Pol-Air are out and about patrolling, making sure no one is gathering.

Project COVID Skies - Part 2

Project COVID Skies - Part 3