Terry Legg
Terry Legg has lived in Canungra for a few years now. He often helps out at the Canungra Show and Rodeo with his wife Maureen and daughter Debbie.
Terry is quietly spoken, always very kind and willing to help with anything. He and Maureen are unofficial grandparents to many of the families in the street they live in, and Terry spends much of his time as a Chaplain with Life Saving Australia.
So what did Terry do during lockdown? Well, he made a replica of a lute from around 1500AD. With the Chaplaincy duties restricted Terry said he was just sitting around and had the local camphor laurel timber sitting in the shed so he thought, why not?
This was not the first lute Terry has made, but he doesn’t really have the right tools to make them, so he has to improvise a little.
“Each piece of timber was cut, bent, and shaped on the back verandah using the railing as a bench,” said Terry, “I haven’t got exactly the right tools, so shaved the neck with an angle grinder.”
His family are pretty used to Terry’s woodworking talents – Terry said they went to dinner at Ginja Ninja one night and his daughter Debbie passed him her wooden chopsticks, saying “Here Dad, make something out of these.”
Sarah Thomson
Sarah Thomson works in health care, and says her work status did not change, except for extra PPE and increased use of hand sanitizer.
“My partner is a small business owner and has continued to work,” said Sarah, “We have two little girls (14 months and 28 months) so most of our days involve hanging out at home anyways. So the biggest issue for me has been the improvement of getting to do grocery shopping on my own.”
Consterdine Family
Lorelei Consterdine owns Lori’s Lollies and has three children, including a son with chronic asthma, Jacob. This put him in a higher risk category with COVID-19.
“We were in very strict isolation for 10 weeks,” said Lorelei, “We have absolutely loved home schooling and tried to keep routines similar to school. I even had a little walk to home schooling and an assembly on Fridays when we gave out awards and read out some school work.”
“It’s been hardest on Amy as she is missing out on school captain duties (at Canungra State School).”
“It’s been very tough on the business , staying closed has been hard but I’m looking forward to re opening soon.”
Lorelei’s husband, Tom, worked at Canungra Auto Clinic throughout the lockdown, but took precautions when he got home to protect his family.
“When he got home he wiped everything down, but his clothing in the wash and showered before he saw the family,” said Lorelei.
Lorelei’s mother arrived in Australia in January and was ‘trapped’ here.
“We are very grateful for that,” said Lorelei, “It’s much safer here than England and she’s been a great help with schooling. It was so hard listening to family and friends back home and seeing the news.”
Like many people, Lorelei said she was nervous about leaving the house when restrictions eased.
Nikki Grim
Nikki and her husband both lost their jobs within a month of each other.
“It has been very difficult to say the least,” said Nikki, “But we have had so much time with our children, that has been wonderful. We have been baking and cooking together.”
“Hubby has been teaching them how to use tools, to build garden beds and a little obstacle course, with things we had laying around the yard.”
“We are trying to stick to the positives in all of this.”
Conway Family
Kira and her husband Mark gave their neighbours a laugh during lockdown when Mark dressed up in a dinosaur suit to put the bins out.
Kira posted the video on the popular ‘Bin Isolation Outing’ Facebook group. The Group began in Australia and has over a million members world wide.
“Our daughter Maddison just turned four last year and we had a dinosaur themed party and bought the suit,” said Kira.
“It was an inflatable suit that has a motor in it and blows up with air – not the most comfortable thing to wear! Has been sitting around. When we saw the bin isolation videos, Mark just had to do it.”
“People on the street were looking and laughing, which was great because it was just after everything had shut down and people really needed a laugh,” she said, “He’s a good guy, he likes to make people laugh.”
“I’m a stay at home mum and the fact that I couldn’t go out was hard,” said Kira, “It’s good to have my daughter back at school.”
