So here we go again; greater Sydney is in lockdown for the next two weeks because of an increase in COVID case numbers. It's not really a huge number in the overall scheme of things, and as has been happening for the last, oh, year and a half we never hear how many of the positive cases are actually ILL, but until full vaccination levels get waaaaaayyy above the less than 5% that they are currently running at, it's probably better to err on the side of caution.

Residents can only go to work or school if they can't do it remotely, go out to buy groceries or other essential supplies, go out for outdoor exercise (which is what I was doing when I took this shot), visit other people on compassionate grounds (with a limit of 5 visitors), go for medical treatment including COVID vaccination shots (if you can get them, I still have about a month's waiting time before my first shot will be available), and a few other reasons. The intent is that this will serve as a circuit breaker which will stop the spread.

That said, this is another kick in the groin for a lot of businesses with yet another two weeks' worth of income vanishing in the space of one decree.

7am, and the sun rising over the ocean behind me is giving a warm glow to everything. Thirroul Beach Pavillion is normally starting to fill up for Sunday morning breakfast-by-the-sea by this time of morning, but on this morning it's about as populated as the moon you can see between the trees. Goodbye to many thousands of dollars in a single morning, if you multiply the average breakfast cost by the number of people that they churn through on a typical weekend.

Still, by this point many businesses have learnt to adapt as best they can. Before the doors even opened this morning they had pivoted to a takeaway operation, which will reduce but not eliminate the financial bleed. Thus, the "We are open!" sign.

And yes, I did go in behind my mask and buy something-to-go to do my small bit.

I had wanted to do a wide angle on this, but in reality I wanted a fisheye approach. The best I could do is my 9-18mm, which is a regular wide angle lens. I do have a 9mm "lens cap" fisheye, which I wouldn't go as far as calling a toy, but certainly isn't in the same class as my Pro series lenses, he says with no small amount of understatement. If you NEED a fisheye (as I did in, for example, the Galleria Umberto I in Napoli), it can do a... ah, passable... shot, but the pixels can get a little "mooshy" unless you shrink the image down. Real, good quality fisheyes tend to be horrendously expensive for a lens which is really very specialised, but I think I'll start putting pennies aside for one anyway.

I have time. It's not like I'll be back in Napoli this year or, the way things are going, next year either.