17 Things You'll Only Understand If You Lived Through The Melbourne Lockdown

    We banded together with banana bread and online shopping.

    olivia_bridge
    by olivia_bridge

    BuzzFeed Contributor

    Right now, in some Australian states, it's important to stay home and avoid non-essential outings. We still encourage you to practise social distancing and, if you feel sick, stay indoors and help to keep yourself and others safe.

    In case you missed it: Victoria's Premier, Dan Andrews, pretty much gave everyone the green light to get on the beers when Melbourne came out of lockdown!

    Seven Network

    And while it feels so good to break free of lockdown and return to normal life (as much as possible, that is), I thought it would be nice to look back and see how far we've come.

    1. To start off, you absolutely nailed making sourdough — the first attempt might not have been perfect, but hey, your perseverance paid off in the end!

    Sourdough Bread
    Olivia Langbridge / BuzzFeed

    Before lockdown, baking was probably something that lived on your to-do list for a while, but who had time, ya know? Being stuck at home was the perfect opportunity for you to flex your skills and when you finally nailed it — that happy kitchen dance as you sliced your first piece was absolute perfection.

    2. You learnt how to poach an egg — I mean you had no choice, right? You needed something for your perfect sourdough!

    Home made hash brown with bacon, egg and home made pesto
    Olivia Langbridge / BuzzFeed

    The only cafe that was open was mi propia casa (my own house) and you had a hangry alter ego to feed eggs benny to on Sunday morning. After a few cracks at it, you created a dish worth posting and the likes rolling in boosted your confidence in the kitchen.

    3. You and your friends imagined your escape from Melbourne into NSW. From crawling across the border, to dressing in disguise — you were going to do whatever it took to get out.

    FOX

    If there was ever a time to get creative and accept a challenge, it was when they said borders were closed and that there was no way you could cross them. Personally, I think the best option was the giant birthday cake — because no one would dare destroy a perfectly good dessert in order to see if someone was sneaking across state lines in it.

    4. You might have been working from home, but that didn't mean you were at work on time — all it meant was that your bed became a whole lot comfier.

    5. You definitely took a nap during works hours. You can't lie to me here, we're all friends.

    6. You've attempted to cut either your own, or someone else's hair. Nothing says "I'm handling this lockdown" more than a lopsided chop.

    DC Films

    Unless you were lucky enough to live with a hairdresser, you had two options when it came to your locks: 1) Trust yourself or a housemate to cut it for you or 2) Let it grow. For most guys it was the easy shave, but even that can go wrong sometimes. Thank goodness hairdressers are open again!

    7. You cleaned your house, only to clean again — spring cleaning has now been renamed "2020 cleaning".

    Netflix

    Your house had never been cleaner and you gave Marie Kondo a run for her money. Not sure if it’s just me, but I seem to clean the house top to toe only to have more to clean because you cleaned more than you have cleaned before which creates more things to be cleaned — you feel me?

    8. You set up a home gym, buying all the gear and thinking that you had some idea.

    FOX

    You had been looking for an excuse to get the home gym set up, especially because of that new activewear purchase that you treated yourself to at the start of lockdown. But, let's be honest. It lasted a hot minute and now the gym gear is collecting dust. Although, the activewear is still very active in your work outfit routine.

    9. You said that you missed burpees — I don’t usually speak that devil word, but lockdown will bring that out in a person.

    10. You enjoyed a pub session over FaceTime — where the bartender was generous on the pour and there was no last call.

    NBC

    It wasn't quite the same as going to the local pub to catch up over a few drinks, but the option of FaceTime meant you could enjoy the comfort of your own home with a pour that’s bigger than the standard and no bartenders telling you "You’ve had enough!" And ladies, there was none of that usual lining up for the bathroom.

    11. Of course you baked banana bread! It was the initiation into lockdown — well that and the Government restrictions.

    12. And you also ate all the banana bread. It just tasted so good, right?!

    FOX

    You enjoyed a slice on your morning tea break with a hot choc, coffee or tea. Then you'd have another slice mid-afternoon and then, before you knew it, the plate was just crumbs. That’s ok, you only had to wait another couple of days for the bananas in your fruit bowl to reach their prime baking time!

    13. You got to know the postie! Interestingly enough, Postman Pat and his black and white cat look a little different these days.

    14. And you indulged in your fair share of online shopping — Christmas is just around the corner and you wanted to be prepared.

    TV Land

    Now that you had built that solid relationship with the postie, it encouraged you to get extra prepared for Christmas and start ordering presents, some for others and some for yourself. Before you knew it, the shopping cart was over $375, but with Afterpay it was an easy four payments of $93.75, which was a bargain! Before you could talk yourself out of the third pair of sunglasses — the order was confirmed and being prepared.

    15. You took up a new hobby. From paint by numbers to building a bird house, we all tried something different.

    Disney

    We all started a new hobby that we had been wanting to start even before COVID hit or we only got into because of COVID. Candle making just made your house that much better *sniffs air where candle is currently burning*.

    16. You expanded on your dating pick-up lines — from the "Hey, how are you?" to the "Hey, I hope you are staying positive and testing negative!".

    Netflix

    My favourites? I'm so glad you asked: "If COVID doesn’t take you out, can I?" I mean, what's more romantic than being second choice to a pandemic? Next one would have to be, "One-ply? Two-ply? Neither. The only thing I’m looking for is your re-ply", and if that didn’t get a response, they weren't worth your time, IMHO. And finally, "Even during a pandemic, your smile is still the most contagious thing". That one gets a 10/10 on the aww scale.

    17. And finally, you 100% thought you had COVID – and you were continuously worried if that was a normal sneeze or a 'Rona sneeze.