Reopening diaries Melburnians share their experiences as the city reopens

Updated October 27, 2021 â€" 8.01pmfirst published October 25, 2021 â€" 3.48pm

Jane Fettes says her four-year-old daughter Lucy bounced out of bed on Wednesday, knowing that, just in time for her birthday, a visit to Melbourne Zoo was finally going to happen.

We woke up super early on Wednesday, Lucy was that excited about going to the zoo. It’s her 4th birthday today, and we’d been talking about doing something fun to celebrate for a really long time, but we weren’t sure what the rules would be.

Jane and Malcolm Fettes arrive at the zoo with their 4-year-old daughter Lucy on Wednesday.Credit:Joe Armao

In the lead-up to her birthday, we erred on the side of caution in terms of planning her celebration because we didn’t want to disappoint her if we had to cancel. But for the last week or so, we became more confident about taking her to the zoo.

As soon as my husband got the email from the zoo, we booked for her birthday and told her. So, excitement has been building and building and this morning she woke up so early, and actually bounced out of bed.

Watching her at the zoo, I realised it’s been such a long time between zoo trips that we could see a real difference in her. You know, she’s bigger, but she also knows more about animals. She knew lots of different animals, but her favourite was the giraffe.

It makes sense because her favourite movie is Madagascar and when she saw the giraffes and zebras together she was very excited.

This is the first thing we’ve done as a family since the city opened up, and it just felt special and positive.

We’ve been zoo members since Lucy was a couple of months old, but the pandemic took hold just as she started to love exploring the zoo, and while we have visited in those brief openings between lockdowns, it has been a while.

It’s just such a good place to come: it feels like you’re out in nature, it’s close to home, it’s a really relaxed environment and, mostly, it’s nice to be around other families.

We live in a little apartment, and we’re really conscious to make sure we get out and do things in open spaces and natural kinds of environments.

It felt so good to be out with others.

Jane Fettes and Malcolm Fettes with their 4-year-old daughter Lucy Fettes on Wednesday.Credit:Joe Armao

Lucy played with other kids on the playground and it was so good for her to play in a new space, not just the same parks we have been going to over and over.

This is the first thing we’ve done as a family since the city opened up, and it just felt special and positive. The sun is shining, and it is a beautiful day.

Day 2: Farewell lockdown nails, welcome mani-pedis ... and balance

With nails salons booked to the hilt from Friday, Yael Schwartz couldn’t nab a mani-pedi appointment until after reopening weekend. Here, she writes about what it was like to venture out for a treatment and a trim again.

Yael Schwartz gets her nails done at Port Melbourne’s Golden Nail Care after lockdown.Credit:Joe Armao

I’m an oncologist and at the beginning of the pandemic, I remember feeling terrified of getting coronavirus. I think it was quite frightening for all of us as we didn’t know much about it at that time. It was a very steep learning curve.

Since then, obviously, we’ve learned a lot more.

Early on, I filled my time with baking and craft projects, and I remember feeling like it was all very novel.

“Particularly as time went on when we were locked down for longer and longer, I felt like there was bad news and more bad news, and we didn’t have the benefit of anything to look forward to.”

But this year, this lockdown was so different. I felt pretty exhausted and pretty low. Particularly as time went on when we were locked down for longer and longer, I felt like there was bad news and more bad news, and we didn’t have the benefit of anything to look forward to. Coping with things was more difficult because there were no outlets and there wasn’t the good stuff to help balance it out.

So, I guess getting my nails done today was about balancing it out. And it felt wonderful.

Throughout all the lockdowns, my nail situation has been pretty grim. At first, I tried to do my own nails, but I wasn’t especially good at that.

My husband then offered to help me out and in the end, he cut my toenails and helped file them, but I drew the line at painting them because he was worse at it than I was.

Yael Schwartz loved getting a manicure on Monday.Credit:Joe Armao

I just tried to keep things groomed as best I could. The nails, the hair, all of that, I am just not very good at doing it myself.

So, when I heard we were reopening the first thing I did was shoot my hairdresser a text that said: ‘please’.

But it took me until Monday to get a nail and waxing appointment, everywhere was so busy. It was worth the wait ...

It was just wonderful to sit there and be taken care of. To come out feeling pampered and groomed and neat. And I wasn’t afraid to be inside the nail salon, I wasn’t afraid at all, which was nice.

I now feel plucked and primed in time for a night out with my friends at a Mexican restaurant.

We are going out and having a girl’s night, which is something that we’ve been dying to do. On Friday, we were also invited to a friend’s house for dinner.

It just felt so wonderful to be with friends again. This is what normal life feels like, I thought. And normal life feels amazing.

Day one: ‘I once thought my future was grim, but the pool is my proof that it’s bright’

Back in January 2020, dipping her legs into a pool in Bali, Yolanda Dorosz felt a numbness that led to her discovering she had multiple sclerosis (MS). Now, swimming helps with her condition. When Melbourne started to reopen last week, she booked the first session at the pool possible.

“I arrived at Brunswick Baths just after 5am for the first session out of lockdown. In the darkness, the queue and excitement made it feel like a nightclub.

I wouldn’t be celebrating the end of lockdown here were it not for a hotel pool in Bali in January 2020. It was a curious sensation; one leg sensing crisp and cool water, the other lukewarm.

Yolanda Dorosz at Prahran pool for a swim session on Sunday, her third out for a swim since Friday.Credit:Wayne Taylor

My doctor sent me for an MRI when the creeping numbness started. My diagnosis was unusually swift and precise: relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. The treatment clear; immune suppressant medicines, regular exercise, daily vitamin D.

“Get puffed out, several times a week” recommended the MS clinic. But the numbness made jogging impossible and being inside at the gym seemed risky because of the new pandemic.

Yolanda Dorosz at the infusion clinic receiving treatment.

When my nurse, Dom, suggested outdoor swimming might allow me to get in my exercise, vitamin D and be safe in COVID-19 times, I started going to the pool every day.

At first, it was mind-numbingly boring. Back and forth, back and forth. Then I found a little gadget that turns an old Apple Watch into an underwater radio and that changed things for me. Now I listen to podcasts, audiobooks, music, meditations, everything while I’m swimming.

I also started to swim with flippers after the big lockdown lifted last year. They double your speed, and it’s not cheating if it’s not a race.

I love to swim in the fast lane because it makes me feel so capable in my body. I once thought my future was grim, but the pool is my proof that it’s bright.

I can’t wait to travel again, but being immunocompromised, I am erring on the side of caution. After I get my third dose of the vaccine in November, I’ll go out properly. Until then, the pool is my sanctuary.

Back in January 2020, in this pool in Bali, Yolanda Dorosz first felt a numbness in her leg.

When you’re swimming the lane lines and listening to music, you can float anywhere in the world.”

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