House of Dreams

Thousands of miles. Oceans crossed in the dead of night, while the earth sleeps beneath us. We have winged our way home to Sydney, Australia.  In the end our flights held, and we boarded Singapore Airlines from Amsterdam to Singapore to Sydney.  

The relief was indescribable. Against the background of thousands of Australians stranded without recourse of coming home in time for Christmas, we held onto our boarding passes, embarking the flight with a sense of awe. 

We had booked and paid for our flights home earlier in March. Forward planning, in hind sight had made all the difference.  Singapore Airlines, and every other airline was progressively cancelling flights back home, due to flight caps and uncertainty of passenger numbers. Our 350 seater jet had 30 from Amsterdam to Singapore.  And then 20 passengers on the Singapore to Sydney connection. An eerie and strange moment, the impact of the virus patently clear. As I boarded SQ323, I wanted to fold my hands and thank the crew for being there. For supporting us despite the narrow profit margins. For keeping the faith, when our national airline had pulled out months earlier. 

The first leg was 12 hours, and I remained wide eyed and awake throughout. Sleep was impossible. The thought of seeing Thomas fueling the excitement and the sense of coming home. My mind filled with the vision of the moment we walk through our front door and reclaim our Australian life. The final 12 hour flight from Singapore to Sydney, left us with free aisles to stretch and finally sleep came in the small hours. And then. Landing in Sydney and the realisation that 14 days of hotel quarantine stretched out ahead of us, and I came down to earth quickly.  Being met by border control, army personnel, doctors and nurses, and every one in PPE gowns and masks made us realise how Australia has contracted itself to an environment of fear and an inflated sense of danger. To its credit though, local deaths from the virus have remained low compared to other countries, but there's a sense of disbelief as I see the sensational reporting coming out of Queensland for example where two cases make the front pages. How does that help the sense of resilience the community needs to build?  Why does the media whip up this daily frenzied attention? What purpose does it serve?

Vaccination numbers are speeding along in most states, and our state of New South Wales is ramping towards 80% doubly vaccinated, with lock down easing as of October 11.  Our release from hotel quarantine is on Friday 8th October, so the timing is aligned. Thomas is vaccinated with his second dose due in two weeks time. That's a relief, although Thomas' generation don't necessarily see the urgency, holding a level of skepticism on the efficacy and safety of the vaccine. 

As I write, we are in day ten of a 14 day hotel quarantine phase. It's been surprisingly tenable, and perhaps my work in the European time zone is helping keep me sane.  The first five days stretched and felt protracted and slow.  The days after that were easier as we found a routine.  Our hired exercise bike helping with movement and a sense of activity. Tim's company has been a critical boost for sanity, and together we have weathered this well.  I upgraded our room to a suite when we were processed at reception on day one, as I couldn't bear the thought of a cramped space, without open windows or fresh air, and no balcony to speak of.  It's a mental game, we're seeing this as the final extenstion of our European journey.  Recasting the contained experience in that light helps to ease the sense of being caught in a room without escape. Even if I wanted to, border control and army personnel on every floor are here to keep us 'safely' confined to our rooms.  It strikes me as hugely ironic given we are all double vaxxed, testing negative every three days with a full on PCR test, and yet the community outside has over 1000 infections daily.  The lack of logic is placing much pressure on the government to replace hotel quarantine with home quarantine,  but as with all the best laid plans of the Morrison government, the game plan is lacking substance and detail. Much like his leadership.