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.

DAY TWELVE - QUARANTINE IN AUSTRALIA

 TWO MORE NIGHTS HERE... and one out by the airport to GO!

OMG I am starting to get very, very excited!

I will get to see Mum and Ron soon.

I can almost smell the finish line.

I don't think I've mentioned how I'm finding the bed here?

Well, it's quite firm, which I love. So no problems there. 

I was worried about the pillows, as I love a VERY HARD pillow.  Well... the two pillows here have feathers in them.  They feel so soft, but OH MY LORD... they are divine!  I squish one up into a ball and it's PERFECT!

First thing I'm gunna do when I get home is go buy some feather pillows!  

And in fact, if Mum doesn't have any, I might buy a couple for her home too.  They are just awesome.

It is really important to get a good night's sleep, and having the 'right' mattress and pillows, that suit you; goes a long way towards that.

ABOVE: The other thing I am enjoying here is the make up mirror in the bathroom.  I have NEVER used one before.  Amazing, but true.

So again... something else I shall be getting when I get home.  I think you can even buy ones with lights around the outside?  Anyone got a good referral for what sort to get?  Lights/no lights?

Yesterday Stew took the fruit trees out of the big blue pots.

First up... the lime tree.  It's root ball had grown huge!

And well... Stew ran into a bit of bother getting it out:

ABOVE: Yeah.  Sadly the pot disintegrated.  I believe it probably had a crack in it to begin with.

Anyway, he got the trees out and re-planted them over the far side of the pool:

ABOVE:  I am sure they will do well there.

ABOVE:  Looks like we have a tomato plant in this pot.  I wonder how many more 'pot' photos I shall have by the end of the day? 

Thank you Darling for keeping me in the loop. 

😋😊😉

ONWARD...

We have another overcast, drizzly day here.  

My washing from yesterday is almost completely dry! And those two tops were dripping wet!  Goes to show how drying it is in this room.  It's a wonder I'm not a prune already! 😂😆

My body is still on NEW ZEALAND time!  I wake at 4-4.30 am every night.  But, I am getting some good lengths of sleep now, so am not waking feeling like I've had no sleep at all.

In fact, I'm sleeping BETTER here than I was at home. Weird.  I wonder if it's the pillows?  Or the even temperature in this room?  Hmmmm.

Breakfast is still a couple of hours away... so here I am... just sitting up in bed ... blogging and listening to music.  It's kinda nice.

ABOVE:  Right.  Here's a question for anyone with feather pillows.  How do ya keep the feathers INSIDE?  Cos every day I am plucking feathers out of the pillowcase !  Stabby little buggers!  Not nice on the face.

7.45 am, and breakfast arrived:

ABOVE:  So... another day I get to have MY CORNFLAKES.

This was actually HOT... so just for that I will give it a 1/10. 😝

MARIE:  Holy hell... if I plucked my eyebrows any more I'd have NONE!  Over plucked as a teenager, and they have never grown back; the shits.

Oh and Yeah!  Rouge chin hairs ... horror!

ABOVE:  I just had the most delicious bath, I used a bath bomb instead of the bubble bath.  Wow!  That stuff is amazing.  It makes your skin all soft and slippery, so ya have to be darn careful getting out of the bath for sure.

ABOVE:  It was rather entertaining watching the bath bomb dissolve.  It reminded me of my paintings.  Very pretty.

I followed my bath up with a shower so I could wash my hair.  

So, I'm all ready for my day.  

I may be a bit bored, but at least I smell divine! 😄

Brylee just sent me a photo of 'a big ass spider'...

ABOVE:  I'm like wtf?  I called her a pussy.  Seriously... could it be any SMALLER?  I told her the Huntsman spiders over here are TEN TIMES bigger than that piddly arse spider.  NOT that I want to run into a Huntsman just to prove a point.

I'm no fan of friggin spiders!

GEORGE'S MUM: Thanks, but I don't feel like I've lost weight.

The OLD MOO is doing quite well at the moment.

She's still in hospital.

It's a fine line getting all the different medications balanced, so that she is in no pain; and is awake as well.

It is going to be an ongoing process, as her condition changes daily.

ABOVE:  I swear to god someone is taking the piss!

The same salad as yesterday.  So I get a dry salad cos the sauce provided is f*#king hot.

And the Falafel Bites are dense and dry as f*#k... can't eat them.  CHILLI Hummus?  CHILLI AGAIN!  WTF?  

OMG I just want to strangle someone.

I give this meal a really, really annoyed 1/10.  And that's only because I like the pear.

I'm now going to eat some crackers, because my blood sugars are totally mucked up and too low.

I've got the shakes, sweating... feel ill.

Thank god I thought to buy in some food.

I tried to have an afternoon nap.  Again.  Didn't happen.  Grrrr.

Never mind.

Stew has been a busy man today!

He's got all the fruit trees and grasses out of our big pots, and replaced them with tomatoes, and a lavender.

He has planted tomatoes, cucumber, capsicum, mint in a pot, lettuces and chives!

ABOVE:  In those two we have cherry tomatoes.

ABOVE:  The new vege garden.  Stew has put a little wire barrier up to keep Coco off the plants.  Well done darling. 

She's gunna be ever so slightly frustrated.

ABOVE:  A nice little lavender shrub where a Mandarin tree used to be.

Apparently they went looking for a pot to replace the one that broke, but had no luck.  So, they've ordered two new pots for the end of the driveway.  I can't wait to see them.

I feel very LAZY... I've done nothing all day and there's Stew.  Slaving away in the garden.

Brylee bought a near new fridge/freezer off friends of ours, and so Stew and Steve picked that up today too.  It's in Steve's garage until Brylee leaves home.

One day, maybe never! 😛😏😌

6.24 pm:  and I'm patiently awaiting whatever delights come through my door in the form of dinner.  My tummy is fair rumbling.

I have done a bit more washing, in readiness for leaving here on Tuesday. Tidied up the bathroom.  Thrown out the last of me bread... even though I kept it in the fridge this whole time, it was done.  I've still got a tiny bit of cheese, and some pastrami.  That might be my dinner tonight if what comes through the door is ikk.

7.20 pm and dinner arrived.

ABOVE:  Much as I'd LOVE to say it is good... it's not.

The meat is very dry and hard, as is the rice.  And no sauce to make it palatable at all.  And it's luke warm at the best.

So, looks like I'm having a pear for dinner?

This sorry shit gets a 1/10.

I'm leaving the apple, it's got a ruddy big bruise on the side.  Eeew.

I was going to order in a burger and chips, but at $19; I think I'll just have cheese and crackers.

I've already spent quite a bit of money on food that I shouldn't have had to buy.

Time to sign off for the night.  Roll on tomorrow, my last FULL DAY in this shitty place.

DAY ELEVEN - QUARANTINE IN AUSTRALIA

 Ha ha!  I'm feeling just a little bit sorry for my darling Stewie.

I bet he thought the list of 'jobs' would just disappear while I was over here in Australia, right?

WRONG.  I sit here and dream up all sort of things for him to do.  

😄😂😆

This weekend I'm hoping he takes the fruit trees out of the pots we put them in, and re-plants them in the gardens.

I read up somewhere the other day that they don't last too long being cooped up in pots.  So... BOOM!  Another job for the man.

ABOVE: And then we have these two pots, which have native grasses in them.  The grasses are DONE... they just die off so quick in summer and look blah all year long.

So I've asked him to get them out and put something else in them.  We are thinking of... tomato plants!  Might work?

Then once the tomatoes are done, who knows?  Perhaps some other vege plants, or flowers?  Dunno yet.  Who says ya can't have your veges growing in pots by your front door?  😋😊😏

Seems the girls are missing me.  So I asked Brylee to let them sit in my car for a while.  They loved it, but seemed a bit confused.  lol

ABOVE:  Poor Coco did not want to get out!

It must be very confusing for them... Mum not being home.  But, how exciting will it be when I do get home again!  I'm picking they might just go a bit nuts.

So... while it is really neat that I can get stuff in from Woolworths, there is a drawback.

I only really want to order in Diet Coke, but you have to spend a MINIMUM of $50 to place an order!  So today I have 5 bottles of coke arriving (to last me till Tuesday),  some hair product; some felt tip pens and some sticky labels!

I do need the sticky labels, but not really the rest.  There was no point buying any more food, I would probably end up having throw it out.

I'm glad this will be my last order!

This mornings plan is another long, luxurious soak in the bath, followed by a hair wash.

Sorry ParkRoyal, I will be using my PURPLE shampoo!  It's to stop the hair going YELLOW.  But sadly, it does stain towels a bit.  I use old towels at home.  HERE?  They are all white!

Yikes. 😕😖😢  There really isn't much I can do about it.

Lacy decided to make an effort with the hair and face yesterday!  And it sure makes a difference:

ABOVE:  Wow, all gorgeous and nowhere to go!  Nice change Lacy.  You should make an effort more often.  💙💗💜

ONWARD...

Bex and the boys are at my home right now, visiting Granddad, and the dogs (Archie only wants to visit the dogs, let's get real!).

Anyway, Bex just sent me a photo of the flowering shrub by the fish pond.  Remember, I showed you some of it's flowers a while ago and said it was just 'pale and insipid', and I'd probably pull it out and put something blue in it's place?

ABOVE:  WOW! Like just gorgeous!  It clearly did not want to be pulled out!  There is NO WAY I'm going to replace it .... it's staying.  It looks like a candy floss tree. I love it.

ABOVE: Bex kindly took me on a little 'garden tour' too.  Everything is looking lovely, all the leaves are coming out on the maple trees and so on.

I'm not going to miss a thing with the family doing this for me.  💙💟💜

ABOVE: It's do the laundry day.  It's only 7.30 am here right now, so no breakfast yet.

And it's drizzling again, looks like it's going to be a very similar day to yesterday.  Bleak, dreary and cool.

ABOVE:  The washing is hung 'out'.

ABOVE:  More washing on coat hangers on the ironing board.

And YES, I'm drinking WATER!!!

I have run out of Diet Coke and just had to drink something.  It's a very dry atmosphere in this room.

Hopefully my order from Woolworths arrives soon.

ABOVE: Breakfast arrived at 8 am.

BLAH BLAH BLAH.

A croissant would have been lovely.  Not today though.

This gets 5/10.

I'm gunna eat the cornflakes and fruit.

ONLY THREE MORE BREAKFASTS here!

I reckon today is my worst so far, trapped in here with NOTHING to do.

OK... I could cut out my fabric, or do a jigsaw on the floor?  But Nah, just not in the mood.

I have watched Netflix till me eyes bleed... and watching traffic is (funnily enough) NO LONGER entertaining.

I have a really sore lower back today, so Panadol is on board. 

The nurse just rang.  'Any Covid symptoms today?"  Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, I'm just fine.

Crabby, but JUST FINE.

Lunch is due in another hour or two.  So is me Woolworth's order.  I'm literally hanging out for a Diet Coke now.  The headache is REAL.

It's drizzling again.  I wish I was out in it.

ABOVE:  Well, lunch arrived.

There is a very good selection to choose from!

-I can have the MEXICAN chicken salad.  HOT SAUCE.

- I can have the Sriracha CHILLI Chicken roll.  CHILLI!

Or the little Sushi Roll. (minus the Wasabi)

Guess what I chose?

ABOVE:  I did face palm myself when I saw the words 'Sriracha Chilli'.

What sort of fooking MORONS work in that catering company?  I've said OVER and OVER again... NOTHING HOT. NO CHILLI OR HOT SAUCES.  

Today's gorgeous selection for lunch gets 3/10, cos I can eat the sushi roll.

No bottle of water today?  

ABOVE:  Never mind.  I've got 'a few' spares.

The weather has perked up ... kinda cloudy with patches of sunshine.

1.10 pm:  And finally!  The diet coke arrived.  I was starting to feel rather desperate for a drink, other than the water.

It's so good!

Now I can relax for the next 3.5 days, knowing I have me diet coke.

I've been trying to watch a movie all afternoon!

But not happening... been emailing a chick for about 2 hours already! Back and forth.... back and forth... very interesting shit coming to light I must say.

It's been ... ENTERTAINING.  Anything for entertainment right now.

The constant drone of the traffic outside just reminds me that I can go NOWHERE, and life is whizzing by outside my window.  So busy.

I swear there is more traffic out there on a Saturday than any other day.

ABOVE:  And dinner arrived bang on 6 pm again.

And OMLord, it was wonderful!

Grilled chicken, mashed potoatoes and a salad.  A lovely fresh bun and a pear.  I am loving the pears!  Probably said that before eh?

I ate ALL OF IT.  Not a morsel left for the bin.

I give this veritable FEAST a resounding 15/10.

See, I'm not THAT hard to please.

I'm now full as a bull... and am going to indulge in a long soak in the bath before settling down for the evening in front of me trusty laptop.

DAY TEN - QUARANTINE IN AUSTRALIA

 First up... for the past couple of days  I've been muddled up with how many more days/nights I have here.

I keep looking at the sticky notes on my wall... and last night I had another good look at them and realised I'd not taken down one somewhere along the way.  So I thought I was here for another 6 nights as of yesterday, when in fact... I'm now down to only FOUR more nights HERE, and one night out by the airport next Tuesday night, then I will be in Coffs Harbour!

Best thing of all is ONLY FOUR MORE NIGHTS HERE.  Then I will be free to walk outside, go anywhere, do anything, eat WHAT I WANT.  OMG  that is going to be amazing.

Next.  I got a Care Package at my door late yesterday afternoon!  How exciting....

ABOVE:  OOOOOoooowwwww... looks very interesting.

ABOVE:  And it is!  Some really lovely snacks, and luxurious toiletries and a cute little book. 

The book is all about motherhood... the semi humorous/not so humorous side of motherhood!  Very entertaining reading.

ABOVE: This is the note that came with the package.  It is lovely, and the bit about mealtimes just made me laugh! 😂😆😅

Thank You so much Penny, what a lovely thing to do.

ABOVE:  These rice cake thingees came with Colleen's care package last week.  I got around to trying them yesterday afternoon.  OMG I hope we have them in New Zealand!  They were delicious!  Yes, they are all gone now.  lol

Note:  they are only 17 calories per 'cake'.  

Now... first up for my day is going to be another bubble bath.  The last one was just so nice!  Let's hit 'repeat'.

ONWARD...

DAY TEN... day ten... what's so 'special' about day ten?

OH yeah... I just remembered.  I get my 2nd COVID-19 test today.  I should rejoice... cos once that comes back clear I will be able to leave here.  Yeah.  Thinking of the positives.  It takes four days for the results to come in.  Hence being released from here on Day 14... all going well.

IF you test positive you have to do ANOTHER two weeks quarantine!  Imagine that ... horror!

It is a cloudy, dreary looking day here in Sydney ... but it might clear up later.

Meanwhile, down in Melbourne:

ABOVE: It looks amazing!  I have a friend (Marie McN) who lives there and goes for a 14 km walk most mornings along the seaside.  Today it's like GLASS!  So beautiful. Apparently the brown blob in the water is a ship (HMAS CERBERUS),, that was deliberately sunk there to act as a breakwater and dive spot; but is now off limits as it's deteriorating. All this wonderful information from Marie, thanks Chick. 

Breakfast arrived:

ABOVE:  And there is nothing to complain about here!  Fresh milk, a nice cereal, an amazing croissant, fruit bla bla bla.

I've been 'saving' up my jam pots, so used some on the croissant today.  SO YUM!

This meal gets a perfect 10/10.

JO:  I decided not to publish your comment from yesterday... as you said, it had the potential to cause sadness.  But I sympathise. 💙💜💚

I just had a comment come in that really required an answer. (Anon : 10.55 New Zealand time) I hope I did it without getting all defensive?

9.45 am : And I just had my 2nd COVID-19 test.  They couldn't do the swab down my throat as I just kept gagging and throwing up!  Was horrible.  Up the nostrils went better, even though it's slightly painful.  My temperature was 35.8 so all good there too.

I should get the all clear from that in just two days, not the four I was told on Day Two.

Yaaa, another hurdle jumped.

I just had some of the Cheesy Crackers Penny gave me.  Very, very nice!

1.00 pm:  Lunch arrived.  Don't get excited.

ABOVE:  It LOOKS OK eh?  Only the VEGETABLE SOUP looks revolting, and so does the VEGETABLE 'SALAD'.  Fuck I'm over left over vegetables from the night before. PUMPKIN??? 

I AM NOT A VEGETARIAN.  I didn't at any point tell them I was.  Grrrrr.

😖😠😣

This meal got a measly damn 2/10.

I ate the bloody carrot sticks and hummus AGAIN... and then ordered a friggin' burger from downstairs.  It costs $19 for a cheeseburger and shoestring fries here.

It is worth it to have something to eat that is PALATABLE and filling.

Well... I've just won two hands of Solitaire!  

That was nice... after playing about 20+ hands.

Finally got to have a very quick word with The OLD MOO just now.  She was too tired to have a conversation with... but at least I got to hear her voice.

She assures me she's 'fine', so I will have to accept that.

I still feel too far away.

Time to get off me bum and do a few lengths of the room.  My shoulders and upper back are killing me from sitting at this desk for too long.

5.15 pm: Is it sad that I am starting to recognize cars on the motorway?  I'm like... OH LOOK, there's that cute little purple car heading home.... yeah.  I have looked at far too much traffic these past 10 days!

lol ... there's a bus literally LIMPING up the motorway ramp!  Bunny hopping... I think it's gunna die.  

It's drizzling, has been on and off all day.  

The guys on the big construction site have just finished for the day. Poor buggers, working in those conditions.  I presume though, that it's not cold out there?  I wouldn't know.

ABOVE: Well, dinner arrived bang on 6 pm.

And I was not hungry at all!

So I put it aside for later.

And when 'later' came... of course it was stone cold.  But the chicken was lovely!

I'm giving this meal a 7/10.

It would have scored higher but for the pumpkin 😅.

I have literally had one phone call/video chat after the other since about 4 pm!  No chance to get lonely around here!

But now, I refuse to take any more.  I'm going to relax and watch something on Netflix until I'm tired, then go to bed.

Catch ya tomorrow.