Easter Monday. The last leg
The pilot has a sense of humour, suggesting that he will be working from home today, but that they’ve preset the flight. There is a slight delay as they unload a bag from a passenger that is not onboard, and he acknowledges our keenness to get home. There is an additional sentence tacked on to the usual welcome, assuring us how safe it is to fly.
Passengers seem to be mostly people freshly out of quarantine and off duty qantas crew. No suits and only a handful of men in high vis mining gear in sight. There are four flights listed on the departure board today, two of them to Perth. The second of these only appeared as an option two days ago. A sign of sanity prevailing perhaps, a few extra flights in an effort to get people home. We notice the Perth flights boomerang back to Sydney, listed to arrive this afternoon on today’s arrival board.
Our comrade from yesterday paid for a business seat on the same flight as us three days ago as it was all that was left. Of course he would have opted for a cheaper seat on the second flight had that been an option at the time. I notice there are 11 men in business and an empty seat, until they move a woman up front. Not quite gender balance! Perhaps indicative of who can afford to pay for those last seats.
We managed a brisk early morning walk and scored a coffee and fresh bacon and egg roll from a cafe down the street that we’d noticed last night. We’re now all set to go, waiting for those Sydney glimpses.
Sydney glitters in the early morning sun, with the light playing on the water. The Harbour, the Heads, the eastern beaches, Paramatta river, Homebush, all too quickly disappear from view. To be replaced by the Blue Mountians, with the road and rail snaking it’s way through. It is hard to see the fire damage from this height, but we know it’s there. The view softens then disappears as we enter cloud, and we settle in for the long haul.
The flight stewards are vigilant about keeping track of any seat changes, as they are required to lodge details of who sat where, for later COVID 19 cross referencing. We hope that this flight will not in due course appear as one where COVID was spread to, or by, other passengers or crew. By the time that happens I guess we will already know if the exposure risks of the journey have finally caught up with us. We hope not, but the two weeks in self isolation at home seem a sensible measure.
While we fly Jeremy will be helping Keayn move out of our house. Keayn has done a stellar job of looking after Obe and living alone for a much longer period than expected. On our FaceTime calls home we have noticed how comfortable he looks in our surrounds! Back to his share house now, where a share house of three might seem a little crowded given no one is leaving the house for work or other reasons.
The shopping was done yesterday and Emma is promising to make up any gaps in supplies. Her two week school holidays coincide neatly with our two week quarantine. Jode has requested a skipping rope to fast track regaining her lost fitness and I am hoping for a FaceTime call from Bunnings, with a focus on veggie seedlings, if there are any. Each to their own! We figure we can justify this shopping on the basis of exercise and food ( in due course) respectively? Although as far as we can tell Bunnings is its own special exemption category, and doing a roaring trade.
Jeremy and Emma will drive our car out to the airport, toss us the keys and keep their distance. We’ll do something similar with Keayn as he vacates the house. And at that point we’ll enter our part of the COVID journey where we begin the social distancing with loved ones. We’re late starters to this. You will have been working out the intricacies of all this for weeks now, but so far we’ve not had to make any choices about who we will see and what implications that will have for seeing others. Where are we located in that intricate web where each family member has their own risk profile and appetite and where my 89 year old sociable mother is part of that mix.
Over the last few days, prompted by positive feedback about these updates, encouragement from Jode, and a desire to keep writing, Jeremy has helped me set up an online blog. It’s almost ready to go, and I hope some of you will continue to tune in. The title ‘All in the same boat’ still seems apt as we negotiate the new COVID 19 realities. I imagine there will be plenty to write about.
Happily, we know that these updates have reached a wider audience, with people on our list forwarding it on to others. If you or others you have been sharing this with joined part way through you’ll be able to read our journey from the beginning. Jeremy has also set up a photo gallery and I’ll be able to populate that in the coming days. Some time to look back at our extraordinary Antartica trip will help keep the whole thing in perspective. We have no regrets.
I am finishing this update now, about one hour out of Perth. It will send automatically as we enter the house and my iPad rejoins the wifi. You’ll know the exact moment we are home. And I’ll be in touch in the next few days with our arrival home post. That will give us some time to do whatever it is that we wish to do.