I’m writing this camped beside Lake Boga in Victoria, after cycling around the lake, smiling at the turtles on the rocks and admiring the cascades of gazanias ringing the bike path.

I should be holding up my new book, ‘How to Repaint a Life’ in front of hundreds of school students, but … you know the story. I’ve seen school tours of Victoria and South Australia to promote the book disappear in a haze of rising case numbers and continuing (necessary) lockdowns. I’m not complaining - there are many...