DAY THIRTEEN - QUARANTINE IN AUSTRALIA

 TODAY marks my LAST full day here in this damn room!

Tonight... my last night here.

I am literally jumping for joy!

Is it too soon to start packing up all my stuff?

NOPE, it's not.  I'm going to have it all sorted out by the end of the day, that way tomorrow I only have to pack my toiletries and then I'm outta here. I bet I'm standing by the door, all ready to go by.... 6.35 am!  I actually don't expect to be out of here until late afternoon, to coincide with when I arrived.  Not sure. 

😂😆😇

I know I will have to go through quarantine again on my return to New Zealand... but at least I will be more prepared for it.

I will know to order in HEAPS of diet coke! And snacks.

And don't tell them you're a diabetic, cos they will starve you!  Or give you VEGAN food. Dang, I hope in NZ ya get a 'menu' of sorts, some CHOICE would be amazing.  

Back to today.... it's another long, tedious day to get through.

I think I've been fairly lucky that I have been able to amuse myself so 'easily'.  The computer and it's ability to keep me in touch with the outside world has been INVALUABLE.  I would have been sunk without it.

ANYONE who is about to enter quarantine... OMG take a laptop or similar! 

The number of work out videos on YouTube is amazing I must say!  YouTube is an awesome site, I can totally recommend it.  And not just for that, but literally anything you want to see/watch/learn.  I love it.  

I've got something 'special' happening today!

Dinner tonight is going to be a real treat!

My friend Paula, who lives in Christchurch, New Zealand has been bugging me for days to allow her to shout me a nice dinner.

So ... to mark my last evening here, I relented and she is getting me a lovely Italian pasta meal, and it is being delivered by Uber Eats.

I've never had anything delivered by Uber Eats before.  

There has been a lot of 'firsts' happening for me lately I must say.  Too many to list in fact.

Right, I'm off to make a start on my pre-packing!

ONWARD...

Finally, after three overcast and wet days, we have a beautiful day here in Sydney.  Bodes well for tomorrow! 

From my window I can't see a single cloud in the sky. The traffic is steady... everyone heading off to work.  Another busy day out there.  

8.07 am:  And breakfast arrived.  

ABOVE:  Thank god the granola wasn't already mixed with the Greek yogurt!  I put the granola with the cornflakes and had a semi-ok breakfast.

The banana had gone way past ripe, so it went in the bin.  Butter and Jam?  *snort*  Dicks.

This breakfast gets a middling 5/10.

MARIA:   From what I've read on the information sheets given to me when I arrived, I can expect to be released from Quarantine between 4 - 6 pm tomorrow afternoon.  Thanks for asking, it made me double check, and I found that information.

ABOVE:  Two sticky notes (nights) left!  TWO... then I will be in Coffs Harbour... seeing Mum and Ron.

Some people just make my blood boil!

ANON:  get your facts right.

ABOVE:  Just proving a point.

10.33 am:  And I just got a visit from the 'Pre-departure Screening Team'.

ABOVE:  The all important paperwork! And a mask and sanitiser.

ABOVE:  One hell of a memento to keep.

My temperature was taken, a million questions asked; then a wristband was put on me.  I was handed my 'paper work' and was told I was free to leave any time after 4 am tomorrow morning!

4 am!  Wow, I had read my leaving time was after 4 pm, but I'LL TAKE IT!

I said I would be out of here around 9 am.

That means I won't have to suffer another breakfast or lunch here!

I think my first stop will be a cafe that serves scrumptious breakfasts!

THEN I have something else on my agenda... before heading out to my next motel.

OMG I am literally jumping for joy!   I don't have to spend all of tomorrow clock watching!!!!!

There's some happy tears happening right now.  For real.

12 noon:  lunch:

ABOVE:  And would ya look at that!  The EXACT same salad for three days in a row now.

The Rice Paper roll was DELICIOUS ... and the Nut Bar was OK too.

So, today's lunch gets a decent 6/10.  

And that is my LAST LUNCH / MEAL here. Thank God. 

I suppose dinner will arrive ... and I will probably take a photo and just bin it.  Cos, I've got a delicious meal coming from  'THE OUTSIDE WORLD' tonight !!!  WHOOP WHOOP.

1.39 pm:  Awesome news!  The OLD MOO is getting out of hospital ... again!  She should be home for dinner.  

I'm so happy.  If she manages to stay out of the hospital, I will get to see her more often.

Covid rules here, (and in NZ); mean you can only have ONE visitor per day.  So that will be something to contend with at a later stage.

But for now... I've got some happy tears again.

3.30 pm:  There's a knock at the door.  Weird.  It's too early for dinner.  I'm not expecting any packages or deliveries.

So I go to the door, trusty mask in place... and it's a bloke delivering a bottle of wine to everyone about to leave tomorrow.  

As a 'Thank You' for choosing ParkRoyal to stay in.  Ummmm, there was no choice, but I will let that slide.

I tell him I don't drink wine, and could he give it to someone else?  

Nope.  He immediately grabbed a Sparkling Grape Juice off the trolley instead!

How awesome is that?

Now I have a lovely dinner coming this evening, AND I get to drink Sparkling Grape Juice too.

5 pm and my UBER delivered dinner arrived:

ABOVE:  Hold on... I need to adjust me waistband  

........

.................

.....................  OMG!  Delicious!  HOT!!!  Smells amazing (I clearly don't have Covid!)...  And it tastes like mana from heaven.

Seriously nicest meal in two damn weeks!

THANK YOU SO MUCH PAULA! 

I can't eat it all, so hopefully it tastes good tomorrow morning cold?  Hee hee.

The grape juice is rather moorish too.

Let's rate this meal shall we?  

How about 20/10? 

To someone who has been subjected to 'mostly'  crap food... this meal was AMAZING.

I now need to lie down and let that settle... OMG I'm so full!  I think my stomach has shrunk in the two weeks I've been here!

6.30 pm:  And the dinner arrived from the Catering Company.

ABOVE:  AND... what can I say?

They are goddam MORONS.

It clearly states on my dietary requirements... NO COOKED CARROT.  

And one beef patty?

Who the hell wants ONLY ONE for dinner?

They are out to starve everyone!

ABOVE: And when does 'LOW CARB' mean NO CARB?

This final insult is getting a rating of -10/10.

Because I just feel like they are totally taking the piss now.

I'm disgusted in them.

I am so thankful Paula shouted me a delicious, filling dinner tonight.  I shall sleep well.

And that ends my day.

Tomorrow I'm outta here.