Cooks Hill's Emma Navarro missed the 10th birthday of daughter Isla-Rose during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Having started a new job, Emma asked her mum Linda Navarro to look after and home-school Isla-Rose.
Linda lives on the Gold Coast.
"I rushed down to get her before the Queensland border closed. I've had her for five weeks," Linda said.
Linda was able to mind her granddaughter because she lost her job as a travel agent due to the economic shock of the coronavirus.
Emma said they had to make the decision quickly, particularly with concerns about the border restrictions.
"I wasn't sure if the schools were going to close down or if vacation care was going to be available," she said.
Isla-Rose turned 10 on April 26, while staying on the Gold Coast.
"We had a video-call birthday party for her," Linda said.
"Emma cried when she didn't see her on her birthday."
But it was happy tears when Emma and Isla-Rose were reunited in time for Mother's Day.
"We both cried," Emma said.
"Then she saw the dog and the cat and she cried even more."
Emma said it was also nice to be with her mum on Mother's Day. Last year, they weren't together because of the distance between their homes.
"It was nice that we could do Mother's Day all together," she said.
The trio went for a walk at Bar beach and Isla-Rose had a swim at Newcastle Ocean Baths.
Linda said it was "an awesome day".
They were able to forget "what's going on in the world right now".
"When we were driving here, we saw the water over the hill as we came down. The water is beautiful - crystal clear," Linda said.
"I thought, 'Oh my god, we're so blessed to be in Australia right now'. We should just love our country."
Linda was able to drive Isla-Rose home because the NSW border wasn't closed.
The Queensland border, though, is closed. So she'll require an entry pass to get home.
This wasn't hard to obtain, given the family reasons for the trip.
