Covid Disruptions

I wanted to keep this update till after leaving Cairns as my itinerary seemed to change from one day to the next.

As many of you know I had planned to visit both Brisbane and Sydney before returning home to Perth.  Originally I had booked a one way ticket to Cairns from Perth, leaving my return open-ended to see how the Lord led.  I started booking for my trip south in June, with a train to Brisbane, then another to Sydney a week later.  As both Sydney and Brisbane went into lockdown, I cancelled both and, praise God was given a full refund. Around this time I also booked my flight home for the 27th July.  This flight was rescheduled three times before I finally cancelled it.  I had booked it to leave at midday, giving me plenty of time to catch public transport to the airport from where I was planning to stay in Padstow. The first change was for 9:30am then 8:30 then 8am taking 17hrs going via a stopover in Melbourne!

When the lockdown was lifted in Brisbane I decided to have a second try.  I booked a train ticket before checking on accommodation, which I later found out was no longer available, which was going to limit my stay. So that ticket needed to be cancelled too! By this time it was the 8th of July and I didn’t want to overstay my welcome at Kat’s place either.  I called and cancelled my flight out of Sydney and inquired about alternative flights from Cairns to Perth but the only available one with the same airline was for the 24th July!  Kat was also looking on line and found a flight going via Brisbane but not with my original airline so I couldn’t use the points I had accrued especially for my return journey.  Never mind, I felt I had to take it as things between Kat and I were getting a bit strained.

Then a friend who had recently returned to WA alerted me to the Good to Go Pass (G2G Pass) which needed to be filled in and approved before I was permitted back into WA.  I thought it would be easy enough as I am a WA resident but unfortunately not all the information they wanted is on the form and my application was denied.  The reason: I did not provide information on the type of accommodation I was coming home to, such as how many bedrooms and bathrooms were at my home and whether I was able to isolate from the rest of the residents at my home.  Well no, I live alone and if you had bothered to have asked those questions on the original form, I could have told you.  Praise the Lord it’s possible to reapply with a fresh form.  This time I spelt it out for them that I would be staying alone in my own two bedroom home with one bathroom.  As well as the original documents I had uploaded, I also uploaded my new government Covid 19 Digital Certificate which is proof of my two Covid vaccinations. Praise God, this time my application was accepted. I down-loaded the boarding passes ready for my flight.

The Covid situation had disrupted a lot of travel plans including Linda’s.  Her plans of coming to stay at Kat’s didn’t eventuate.  Kat was now coming home early due to cancellations from clients who were trapped in lockdown in Victoria. Duncan, who was out at sea north of Darwin, had to stay an extra week as the changeover crew were also in lockdown.  Praise the Lord I was still here, otherwise the poor dog and chooks would have been without a carer!  As my favourite Bible verse says; “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purposes.”  I was very grateful to have extra time in warm Cairns even though it was wetter than usual. It was more than I had hoped for, being away from the cold wintery wet season in Perth, that was for sure.

I had a restless night before flying out of Cairns, even though I had taken something to help me sleep.  When I woke at 3:30am, I decided it wasn’t worth trying to sleep another 45 minutes so got up and started getting ready.  I’m glad I did, as it saved me from rushing. Kat said she also hadn’t slept well.  She had given me a pair of jeans which were far too big for her and which I thought would be ok to get me into Perth’s winter, but unfortunately they were hipsters and were too big for me too, and kept slipping down, even after I had rolled down the waist band and put a huge safety pin in the back!  I only found out about the problem after Kat had dropped me at the airport, so there was no going back!  With my luggage booked in, it didn’t take long before boarding for a short 2 hour flight with a single serve of frittata (which I kept) before arriving in Brisbane.  My breakfast that I had prepared earlier was a healthier option of oats, nuts, seeds and fruit. I had an hour in Brisbane to enjoy a fresh cup of expresso coffee and a ginger-nut biscuit I had brought with me, before my flight to Perth. The passenger in the aisle seat, Stig, was from Norway, coming to fill a mining job here in Aust and had already done 2 weeks quarantine in Brisbane and was fortunate to now avoid having to repeat the process in Perth.  At least he wouldn’t mind the cold weather.  Having woken so early and then wanting to change my body clock back to Perth time, 2 hrs behind AEST, I was tired and needed sleep.  So with neck pillow and my own pillow, I made myself as comfortable as I could in the window seat as we flew on to Perth.

I must have crashed out, but by 10am I was woken by the meal announcement. Due to Covid, the meals are really not that interesting and such small portions, I’m glad I bought extras.  These days many flights have their own Wi-Fi connection, which makes it convenient when contacting friends and enabling online activities. Unfortunately, I was previously unable to log into my members account or receive SMS codes to change my login.  I had tried contacting customer help but of course no response. So I was unable to choose my entertainment on the now 6-hr flight to Perth.  Yes, 6 hours! That was due to gale-force winds, which forced us to fly further north across the interior, just south of Alice Springs.  Forever looking for the positive side of things, I decided to get out my tablet and use this time productively by continuing my blog writings.

Praise the Lord we had a safe landing in Perth, then there was the police G2G check which took over two hours!  This included a chat with a member of the Covid police force and a Covid test. The results later came back negative, which was expected, having been isolated in Cairns for over two months, but we still needed to go into two weeks of self-isolation or ‘iso’ as the Aussies are now calling it.  Our luggage had been taken off the turntables and was waiting for us on the floor, looking rather strange dotted around the terminal.  I asked the attendants if I could choose any one. They laughed.  Good to get a bit of humour in such a boring job I suspect.  I kind of knew not to get a lift home from friends, so booked a taxi. The police had told us to let the driver know that they also had to wear a mask and disinfect the car once I’d been dropped off.  I had a lovely chat to the driver who was from Bhutan and had come over to study business in Perth.  This was day 0 of my two weeks quarantine.

Day 0 of iso: What a relief to be back home.  My neighbour dropped around the spare house keys, as well as the car keys, which had been dropped off to her after my car was serviced. She had also picked up some DVD’s from the library in preparation for my extended home detention.  (These lasted three days!)  I told friends I was taking an extra two week holiday at home. On her way home that evening, my very reliable friend Elaine picked up some shopping and dropped it outside my front door, which I was very grateful for.  In June, a friend had needed emergency accommodation so had been staying at my place, she had moved out the day before my return and left some edibles in the fridge too.  I was now set for food for a few days till I got myself a little more organised.

Exhausted, I sat myself down to relax a bit and catch up with some of my recorded TV programs but found that the TV wasn’t working in the same way as I had left it.  You know how you set things up just as you like them to operate. Well, unfortunately my boarder hadn’t read my instructions and it had all been changed! Firstly it was switched off at the wall and when I tried using the remote control it didn’t seem to work. I changed the batteries but still it didn’t work. In fact I had to switch the TV off at the wall to actually turn it off.  It took several attempts of turning it off and on at the wall until it finally worked.  Then I had to try to figure out how to switch it back to the operating system I was used to.  Oh yes ‘Input’ AV2. Praise the Lord, I got it.  Now to write it down so I don’t forget it again.  I’ll just have to see if I can remember how to switch it to the DVD now.

I unpacked most of my things, sorting through what needed to go where and trying to stay awake to reset my body clock to Perth time. I really wasn’t that hungry either. Finally, with stuff still spread around the house, I hit the sack at 8pm exhausted and slept till 1:30am when I woke realising the power was off.  It took me awhile to get back to sleep but then I slept through to 6am. It wasn’t till after 7am that the power was back on. I was surprised when I went into the freezer that so much had defrosted.  Now another job to be done, defrosting and cleaning that out.  I took awhile, as many of my plastic containers had been broken, maybe from the freezer being rearranged for other things during my absence. It was good to go through everything to see what needed using up as well.

Day 1 of iso: had started badly.  I must admit I really didn’t feel like doing much; maybe it was all the activities over the past few days trying to get things organised.  I was relaxing, dressed, but in my dressing gown to keep warm when my phone buzzed me.  It was the G2G app asking me to sign in.  Big Brother was checking up on me.  Thank God I had the phone in my hand and was not out in the garden where I couldn’t hear it, as I was only given four minutes to check in. I had to take a photo to prove it was me and received a response ‘it appears that you may not be at your registered location.’ What! I was in my dressing gown lying on my bed! Just because there was a bright light behind me coming from my bedroom window doesn’t mean I’m out and about!  I had to write a response so I stated “I’m definitely home alone keeping warm in my own house”. I’ve learned to spell things out so I don’t miss anything. I hope they were satisfied. 

Another friend who is also quarantining at home, said her husband didn’t hear the message to identify himself, on three occasions, and eventually someone called him. At least now I know they will call if I don’t respond immediately.  I think I’d better let them know to keep trying, as I may not hear it the first time. My second request to check in went well but the third time I was once again asked to give a response. This time, after I informed them I was definitely at home alone, I received a message saying “Hi the location error is a fault we are working on, the response you see is computer generated.  We apologise for the inconvenience.”  That was a relief, that it was not me but a computer glitch.  I was thinking of being cheeky with the next response, but that didn’t happen, as I wasn’t home for the next check-in which was my eleventh day in quarantine. This was the day I had to take myself to a Covid testing clinic. It felt rather strange leaving the house, I Wondered if this was a little like what it felt like to be agoraphobic. As I drove out of the carport I had to readjust my brain to driving an automatic after two months of driving Kat’s manual Golf VW; the other thing was the indicators which were on the opposite side so I was constantly turning on the windscreen wipers instead of the indicators. 

I pulled into parking lot 4 at Joondalup hospital but couldn’t see anything that looked remotely like somewhere to be tested. I rang to the pathology I had contacted before and was told all testing places were closed after midday. No, I said I’d checked and the government ones were open till 4pm.  She gave me another number to call which took me awhile to get through to the right department where a very understanding gentleman reassured me I was still able to get tested.  By now I was rather shaken and I suspect having a panic attack.  He kindly stayed on the line while, from the car, I enquired with a nurse who was just coming on duty.  She informed me I was on the wrong side of the hospital and instructed me where to go. The guy looked up the google map and helped me over the phone to find the right entrance before wishing me good luck. I parked and promptly tripped over curbing in the middle of the carpark.  I was instantly surrounded by several nurses coming on duty, all checking that I was ok.  I was, just stunned and shaken with grazed knees and elbows. It wasn’t till later that night that I realised I had also injured my foot.  I was helped to stand up, even though I had warned them I was coming for a Covid test. They didn’t seem to care. The nurses at the Covid clinic on the other hand were all dressed in PPI, showing me where to sign in with my phone and directing me towards the testing station.  I then had to call the hospital administration to register as a new patient, then sign in with the G2G Pass before the test was done.  I was just preparing myself for the test when the ‘G2G Now’ app alarm went off asking where I was!  Oh boy Big Brother was on my case! I had to take a photo and then reported I was at the Covid testing station at Joondalup.  What a palaver!  I was surprised that I was the only person getting tested at that time, but as I was leaving, five more people were lining up to be tested. After all this, I decided I’d drive home via the ocean, just to take in some serenity and calm. I’d also noticed on my drive north that the freeway heading south was very congested, so it was a good idea to avoid that too.  It was lovely to see the ocean after so long being couped up at home. I’m definitely looking forward to my ‘iso-freedom day’.

Day 2 of iso: My second full day after returning from Cairns, I slept in to 6am again.  Well really no point getting up early as I couldn’t go out jogging, plus it was cold and wet so I stayed a little longer under the covers. This day was more productive as I finished off making the kimchi, which I had started the day before. I even got out into the garden for the first time between showers. I trimmed back the blackberry, which unfortunately looks pretty dead but then again it is deciduous. I cut off a heap of banana leaves, tied up the rambling rose on the back trellis, picked the rhubarb which was wilting due to so much rain, weeded the upper level garden and checked all the new growth and bulbs which had come up since my departure, moved the car back to facing out instead of in and fed my fish.  I couldn’t see any in the urn but I’m praying they have survived. The lilies had died back so I could see the three gold rosy barb in the duckweed pond; the fish had also survived and were very pleased with a feed but nothing appeared in the pond with the fountain. I was very disappointed that my beautiful Silver Princess eucalyptus, which I have been growing since moving in, has died, as had also a Grevillia along the front verge.  I think it’s due to all the rain. Everything is so wet and sodden.

My indoor jobs while in iso included; finishing off emptying my suitcase, grinding some coffee which had kindly been left me as a thank you, sorting and naming all my recent photos from Cairns, answering emails from friends welcoming me home and chatting to others on the phone.  I did a bit of sewing mending too. Other than that I watched all my recorded programs and a bit of catch up TV which was relaxing. 

Overall, neighbours and friends from Church were very supportive and helpful, doing my shopping, bringing around precooked meals, coffee and chats.

The rain continued to fall off and on for the rest of the two weeks which made it a bit difficult to do things in the garden but I did manage to trim the rest of the roses hoping they will not suffer as its best not to prune them when it’s wet. On one sunny day I rearranged the wisteria canes over the pergola, and trimmed back the grape vines, tied up the battered passionfruit runners and did some general weeding.

Jess, who had moved out from across the driveway came to visit twice with a cup of coffee.  Her first visit she sat on the other side of my sliding door which made it difficult to communicate so I suggested we talk to each other on the phone.  That was rather strange as there was a time delay in our speech and what we heard through our earphones.  On her second visit she collected more of her pot plants which she had left here after her move.  I’d had time to move things around and sweep the paved areas, which made it look much tidier. While moving some pavers, my finger was pinched between two of them and instantly went black!  I continued working, holding a cold pack around it praying there was no real damage done. It looked shocking as it began to swell, but by the following day most of the swelling had gone down and it had turned a light shade of purple.  Praise God it wasn’t that painful, I was surprised it didn’t throb. Unfortunately, ok since then the circulation in the tip of my finger has not recovered and because of the cold weather it is frequently a light shade of blue and numb.

My Tuesday coffee team buddy, Kev, came around to see if he could help remove the existing key lockbox which had been smashed with a brick by my friend’s son when he was locked out.  Typical irresponsible teenager!  It took some time, plus brute force but eventually it was off. On his return visit he cut the protruding screws off and attached a new lockbox, even though it was about to pour with rain.  It’s such a blessing to have supportive friends.

I was pleasantly surprised when nearly 3 months after my request for a refund on expenses due to my luggage being delayed, I received an email stating that I would receive the refund.  I was of course delighted.  A few days later I received a survey to fill in related to the customer care I had received.  Of course I scored them very low and gave them the reason including a few suggests on how to improve their service.

Day 3 of iso: After four days of no exercise I was getting a bit desperate.  I had contacted the church to see if anyone had an exercise bike I could borrow but there was no response so I decided I’d have to start doing something about it.  As I usually wake early and not being able to get out, there was a lot of time in my day that needed filling.  By 6:30 am it starts getting light, so having been awake often since 4am, I got up and put on my sports gear before starting my jogging on the spot.  I can’t believe I jog for the same amount of time but it’s only just over a kilometre unlike the 3-4km I usually rack up while jogging along the road. It’s so unfair!  At least I can listen to the news while jogging and exercising indoors.  Then on a few dry mornings I ventured outside to run around the courtyard and back garden in the cool morning air. It’s really not a very big area but it’s better than jogging around the obstacle course or on the spot inside.  On one occasion Elaine called in with some carrot cake.  How spoilt am I!  Marilyn dropped off some supplies, my neighbour Kath lent me some more videos to watch, which I finished in 3 days. It then began to get challenging trying to think of things to do with all the time I had at home.  I got some more sewing repairs done, cleaned the house, did two loads of washing on the only two dry sunny days during the whole two weeks of isolation.

Day 12 of iso: There were other things I should have been doing around the house and garden, but at times I wasn’t really in the mood for very much. By day twelve of my self-isolation, I was getting restless, especially as the results of the last test came in NEGATIVE! Whooo! Well actually I knew they would be but good to get a confirmation.

My sister Kat in Cairns was settling back into home life and had started a sketching class and Jen was continuing her travels across the top to Australia.  She had left me in Cairns to travel north, had reached Kununurra and was setting out for the Gibb River Road in far north WA with a friend from Victoria.  Fortunately they had not needed to quarantine coming in from the Northern Territory. Jen messaged me with some disturbing news from the UK.  Her daughter Kate’s partner, Richard, had been in contact with someone who has Covid both were in self-isolation.

Day 13 of iso:  I had a chat to my niece, Kate and Richard via a video call.  Richard confirmed he was positive for Covid.  Praise God he had received both his vaccinations and Kate her first so they had some protection, but were still trying to social distance while living together.  That must be difficult. We compared notes on our government apps and their requirements. I told them how we get checked on and have to provide a photo of ourselves at that moment, plus, if it looks like we are not at home, an explanation of where we are and why. As well as a daily health check which I’d read incorrectly and only done on the days I was called to check in which was every second day.  Oops!  Thank God my final test was also negative.  Kate then showed me their Covid testing kit, which is similar to a pregnancy test except you swab the back of your throat and nose.  The results are almost immediately shown as a line for either positive or negative result.  Her’s was still negative but Richard, who did another test to show me how it works came up positive with only a quick swab to his throat.  I’m surprised we don’t use the tests here, although I have been told they sometimes come up with an incorrect reading which isn’t so helpful. Richard was saying that UK health was encouraging people who have had both vaccinations to try to get a dose of Covid before the winter to boost their immune systems even further as once you have had this dreaded virus you shouldn’t get it again or at least not that variant.  I’m praying they will both be ok as they are both immune compromised.

Day 14 of iso: There were high winds, of up to 120km per hour last night. Praise God nothing much had changed around here except for a few plant pots falling over.  Emma, who called to check in on me, said the emergency services had been called out to several places with trees coming down.  I had an early, and I presume my last required check in with the G2G Now app.  I decided to have a bit of fun when the message came saying I may not be at my registered location.  My reply this time was “we will have to stop meeting this way while I’m at home in iso. How about tomorrow when I’m free. At the moment I’m about to make myself a coffee.  Yes at home alone but only for today. Yippee!”  I do hope who ever checks the response has a sense of humour.  The rest of my day was pretty boring as I was struggling to find interest in things and wandered around the house and garden (when it wasn’t raining) just to get some exercise.  I’m so looking forward to my ‘iso-freedom day’.

Photos:  1. Kuranda walk Ginger flower    2. G2G Pass    3. Sunrise leaving Cairns    4. My response to G2G Now check in    5. Computer generated reply    6. Chatting to Jess behind closed doors    7. Ouch!    8. Richard showing me their UK check in app    9. Their Covid 19 test kit    10. G2G Now home page    11. Last day of iso

Prayer & Praise Points:
Praise the Lord for both negative results from my Covid tests and for being able to spend time inside during this terrible cold wet weather.

Praise Him for all my thoughtful friends providing shopping, food and encouragement while I’ve been in self-isolation.  I praise the Lord that I avoided the situation and lockdowns in Sydney.  Please pray that things will settle down there soon.

Praise Him for continued good health and my release from isolation to enjoy the freedoms we all take for granted

Please continue to pray for my sisters, Tricia, Jen and Kat to come to know Christ’s love for them.