Australia continues to weather the Covid pandemic relatively well: a combination of proactive action by our Government, a (generally) compliant population, and our geographic position as an island at the south end of the world.

This position as an island causes us to be very reliant on freight coming into the country by sea.  Covid has somewhat affected the world wide movement of freight, and it continues to be noticeable in the long delivery times for items ordered from overseas, such as bicycle touring panniers.

I had my eye on Arkel paniers.  They look nice, get good reviews, and have extra pockets to which I'm partial.  Trouble is, I can only order them from Canada and overseas shipping just got a lot more complicated because a ship is stuck in the Suez Canal.

I'm not impressed with whoever was driving said ship.

My pannier plans have been revised.  I now have only one criteria for choosing my panniers: they must be in stock in Australia at the time of my ordering them. This means I will shortly be the proud owner of a pair of Ortlieb front roller classics and all my fingers and toes are crossed in the hopes that they meet all my pannier needs and I will be able to cope with the lack of external pockets.

Edit: the ship is unstuck.  The new criteria for pannier selection still stands.