Melbourne to home

I was in hotel quarantine Having touched down  processing of with arrival formalities and quarantine requirements at the airport and were put on a bus to go to our city hotel

As we drove out of the airport internal road Tullamarine airport was a ghost town; there were avenues of planes parked around the terminals and their approaches - ranging from large international jets of many carriers to small private aircraft. Most had big circular covers placed over the jet engine cowlings and obviously were not moving anytime soon.
No people were about, terminals in darkness, empty car parks and roads free of traffic.

We were taken by bus to Rydges on Swanson Street Melbourne. At the end of the freeway and travelling along city streets there were closed shops and cafes, empty trams. No apparent activity in a large city of nearly 5 million people - all indoors.

Quarantine at Rydges was a big step-down from the Greg Mortimer. We felt like lepers was often the term used among passengers but over 60% were positive so the group needed to be treated as infectious and dangerous. The room was dark colours and unappealing but was rather dirty; the carpet was not clean and smelt musty, the bathroom the toilet need a good clean and bath tile grouting was mouldy.  Well didn't expect 5 star at Government expense but army barracks in Nasho in the late 60's had cleaner facilities and standards.

Well move on..... it wasn't a time for bitching I was back in Oz! I talked to Diane and we had ZOOM hook ups and despite the window not opening I had sunlight and a quiet Swanson street outside. The staff at the hotel were very obliging and friendly on the phone and helped where possible.

Swanston Street from my window

No only during the morning journey to the hotel, but when later watching TV (only free-to-air) did the far reaching and crippling threat of this deadly virus that had now spread into a global pandemic become even more apparent. It didn't matter what channel you watched, the danger from the pandemic and the lock down provisions was the story. Life was operating to a new normal, families and organisations meetings used ZOOM, Restaurants, pubs and clubs have no patrons, cafes are take-away only.

Having hit home soil, frequent contact with family and friends was now in play. It was nice to catch up although most had heard about the circumstances however the reports in Australia were in my view biased and not accurate. It later turned out there was an agenda by some passengers who had contacted the media and a class action was being set up. The circumstances were not perfect but the handling of the rapidly changing crisis by the company was performed professionally in my view.

The food at Rydges was rather tasteless and unappealing (sometimes I was unsure what it was). the meals became a daily subject of ridicule,  criticism and often humour by many on Whats App. The company gave us $300 credit and send a nice fruit box which helped alleviate the possibility of starvation and scurvy (Ha ha). I also ordered from Woolworths on line twice and often made my own meal.

DHHS in Victoria made contact every day, mostly twice. SWAB testing occurred on Monday 13 April (Nasal) and Thursday 16 April (1 Nasal, 1 Anal) ALL NEGATIVE. (in addition to the one on the Greg Mortimer that's 4 NEGATIVES.

I agreed to another voluntary study, "Greg Mortimer Cohort Study" also conducted by DHHS Victoria. It was to research the role of asymptomatic and mild infections in transmission of Covid19. It focused on the immune response to infection. They collected 5 vials of blood on 16/4/20 and 7vials on 24/4/20. It turned out subsequently that I had a high level of antibodies - who knows when I was infected since I had no temperature of other symptoms... The unknown is how long will my immunity last.

Due to an administration error our paperwork for Covid19 detention stated we were to be released on Monday 27 April not Sunday 26 April (14 days). Return flights were booked and with so few available, I stayed until Monday 27/4.

Swanston Street Monday 27 April at about 11:30am

I was allowed a walk in the fresh air on the Sunday and the simple things in life, a walk in the inner city, a latte, seeking the closures and shut down in Fitzroy Lygon street and walking through the inner parks of Melbourne.

 Home at last:

Aurora booked and paid for the Qantas Flight flight to Sydney on Monday evening plus have paid my cab fare home. As far as their offer, took the cruise in the future option - South Georgia and Falklands in 2022 (not Antartica) since Diane will come too if there is no Drake's passage.

So there it is, Covid19 might have completely upset holiday plans in my case, but I managed to see a lot nevertheless. Covid19 has enormously affected public health, crowd behaviour, family life, how we can now work, travel, and the way we can meet, relax and socialise. How we live has been changed enormously and suddenly, and it's effects will continue for a long time to come.

April 27, 2020

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