Rani Wallace and her family are going on a bear hunt through Queanbeyan. They're gonna catch a big one! It's a beautiful day, and they're not scared, either of bears or the bug.
This morning, they walked through the suburbs, spotting teddy bears in windows, their arms up as if waving; banana yellow Minions on rooftops; and pop-eyed Pig the Pug with his storybook.
"They loved it," Rani said. "We ended up walking 4.8 km; they wanted to keep going for more, where usually we walk down the street, and they ask: Can we go home now? But because we were searching for the bears, and they were excited, we kept going and going."
For young families like Rani's, boredom may be one of the biggest challenges of the COVID-19 lockdown. Her three boys are all under eight - and, Rani said, they're going a little bit crazy. "They're not enjoying it at all! But activities like this help."
Inspired by Michael Rosen's classic picture book, London householders began putting stuffed toys in windows this week to entertain bored kids. From there, the idea spread to the USA, New Zealand, and here.
Rani runs the Queanbeyan Christmas Light Trail page on Facebook; she loved the idea and shared it with the community. A dozen houses in town have already taken part.
"It's a great idea to get the kids out and about exercising while maintaining that social distancing," Rani said. "It occupies the kids for a good hour and a half; now it's lunchtime, and the morning's eaten up.
"It's great exercise. I'm really into fitness, and I like to keep my kids active. When we're out looking for teddy bears, they didn't even know they were exercising. You can make a game of it; we were singing, and the three-year old was counting - putting a bit of education into it as well!"
Rani and her family have two stuffed toys at the front of their home: a giant teddy bear in the window, wearing an Easter hat the boys made (the school's parade was cancelled), and a big Easter bunny on the door.
To give a sense of normality, Rani tries to maintain a school routine. "P.E. for us is obviously our bear hunt," she said. "We're going to sit down and make an Easter story later on for English. Our idea was to photocopy our storybook and drop it off into the mailboxes of old people's homes. We're going to do school stuff, but involve the community as well."
If you want to put a teddy bear in your window, let Rani know through https://www.facebook.com/Queanbeyanchristmas.
Nicholas Fuller
The exciting thing about journalism is the variety; one can explore the world, meet interesting people and write about it. I've sat in the caravan of an African circus ringmaster; I've squatted on my haunches in a plastic-sorting factory in the Mumbai slums, talking to the workers and drinking hot chai in plastic cups the size of thimbles; and I've interviewed Chinese cultural attachés, Danish football stars and Japanese drummers. Now I’ve come to the Northern Tablelands as a group journalist working across six of Fairfax’s mastheads. Living in New England is a return to country. My father’s side of the family lived here since the 19th century. My great-great-grandparents are buried in Ben Lomond. My great-grandmother and grandmother spent most of their lives in and around Glencoe and Glen Innes, and are both buried in Tamworth. My grandfather isn’t; his ashes are in a cupboard until we throw them in the Macdonald, near Bendemeer, where he used to fish. And my father cut his teeth as a cadet journalist on the Northern Daily Leader, before moving to Canberra, and studied history at UNE. Moving here is following in the family footsteps. Armidale seems charming: up here, in Australia’s highest city, one feels close to the sky. And the mixture of 1830s historic buildings; green, rain-washed hills, crowned with conifers; and one of the country’s leading universities give it a unique appeal. I completed my journalism qualifications last year, while freelancing for newspapers and magazines, and holding down a full-time job. I spent the end of last year in Sri Lanka, where I reported on visiting Buddhist dignitaries (from exotic Perth), UN development programs, Italian food weeks, and hotels in former war-zones. Previously, I worked as a writer and editor for the Australian Government in Canberra for a decade. In my day job, I briefed members of parliament about international relations, and wrote about agricultural aid programs to developing countries. Journalism, though, is where my heart lies. I want to experience life, rather than sit behind a desk. And, having grown up in Belgium, I want to be Tintin. I hope to get to know and love the region where my ancestors lived, while reporting on issues important to the Tablelands.
The exciting thing about journalism is the variety; one can explore the world, meet interesting people and write about it. I've sat in the caravan of an African circus ringmaster; I've squatted on my haunches in a plastic-sorting factory in the Mumbai slums, talking to the workers and drinking hot chai in plastic cups the size of thimbles; and I've interviewed Chinese cultural attachés, Danish football stars and Japanese drummers. Now I’ve come to the Northern Tablelands as a group journalist working across six of Fairfax’s mastheads. Living in New England is a return to country. My father’s side of the family lived here since the 19th century. My great-great-grandparents are buried in Ben Lomond. My great-grandmother and grandmother spent most of their lives in and around Glencoe and Glen Innes, and are both buried in Tamworth. My grandfather isn’t; his ashes are in a cupboard until we throw them in the Macdonald, near Bendemeer, where he used to fish. And my father cut his teeth as a cadet journalist on the Northern Daily Leader, before moving to Canberra, and studied history at UNE. Moving here is following in the family footsteps. Armidale seems charming: up here, in Australia’s highest city, one feels close to the sky. And the mixture of 1830s historic buildings; green, rain-washed hills, crowned with conifers; and one of the country’s leading universities give it a unique appeal. I completed my journalism qualifications last year, while freelancing for newspapers and magazines, and holding down a full-time job. I spent the end of last year in Sri Lanka, where I reported on visiting Buddhist dignitaries (from exotic Perth), UN development programs, Italian food weeks, and hotels in former war-zones. Previously, I worked as a writer and editor for the Australian Government in Canberra for a decade. In my day job, I briefed members of parliament about international relations, and wrote about agricultural aid programs to developing countries. Journalism, though, is where my heart lies. I want to experience life, rather than sit behind a desk. And, having grown up in Belgium, I want to be Tintin. I hope to get to know and love the region where my ancestors lived, while reporting on issues important to the Tablelands.
