Earlier this year I wasn’t meant to fly back home to my family until two weeks before our second child was born. Then when COVID-19 cases kept increasing and states were preparing to close their borders I had to leave sooner. My predicament had been, if I flew when I was originally supposed to I would have had been in home quarantine when our baby was due, therefore I wouldn’t be able to go to the hospital.
All up I was lucky enough to be home for two months but it was a busy two months, doing home schooling with Harrison, then having a second child followed by the weeks of adjusting to a new member in the house; all while helping Harrison adjust having a baby sister and not being the only child any more.
In the last week I was home emotions and tensions were running high about me leaving again. It is never an easy time for anyone when your life has been turned upside down due to various reasons and then you have to leave, not knowing when you will be able to return again. From the day I landed two months earlier I had told Harrison I would have to go again so he was semi prepared, but in that last week his emotions were all over the place as well. Add to the fact we had just changed schools which he was trying to adjust to.
Over the two months I was home Shayne and I had been watching the TV series The West Wing and I am a big fan of reading back stories, who the actors are and things they have done. One of the main characters was played by John Spencer and he has been in quite a few movies that I like so I was a bit of a fan of him. We were getting towards the end of the series but we wouldn’t be able to finish watching it together, and I had read John Spencer had died in real life towards the end of the series.
Before I knew it my family were driving me to the airport where we had a very emotional goodbye; everyone was really struggling this time. I managed to be strong and hold it all together and got on the plane. While on the plane I watched the rest of The West Wing on my iPad, and while watching it my emotions got running even higher. I knew what was eventually coming up in the show and that watching it that day was probably not the best idea but curiosity got the better of me of how the show was going to incorporate John Spencer’s real life death. I eventually got to that particular episode and started to well up, but still I didn’t cry. Damn these well written well-made TV shows.
The first part of my flight was to Kununurra, near the WA-NT border, where I had to have a three and a half hour stop over. I had taken some snack food but it wasn’t enough for me, and the small airport shop was closed. So sitting in the airport lounge for over three hours, starving and emotional started to give me a massive headache. There were six other guys who were on the same flight as me, all sitting around as well waiting for the next flight. We were also told not to leave the building; it wasn’t a very big building.
Finally the time came to board the plane to Darwin. Thankfully it was only a forty-five minute flight because my headache was really bad by this stage and I was starting to feel sick. All I could think about was getting to the hotel to sleep.
When I landed in Darwin I had to wait with the rest of the passengers while we watched passengers from another flight get processed by the police. It was a long slow process and I felt quite sick now. I sat on the floor and waited until I eventually got processed, grabbed my bag and headed outside to be picked up by a work colleague where I was then driven to the Adina/ Vibe hotel on the Darwin water front.
Even though I knew I wouldn’t be able to leave the room I was convinced the view over the harbour would be good. NOPE, I was lucky enough to be given a room on the other side of the hotel facing a multistorey carpark and the cliff face.
I walked through the door to the hotel room and instantly started crying. I thought “What have I done to be in a position to walk away from my family again and a new baby?”
When I was being driven to the hotel we got drive through from Hungry Jacks but I felt that sick I couldn’t eat. I tried to pull myself together while I was on Facetime with Shayne and our new little baby girl. Thankfully Harrison had already gone to bed so he didn’t get to see the mess I was. Eventually after settling in to the hotel room and talking to Shayne I calmed down and my appetite came back with a vengeance. It was then shower and bed.
The next morning I woke up to a FaceTime call from a very cheerful son, very happy to see me. I talked to him while he got ready for school and once he was off I had a look around my new room for the next fourteen days. Before I left home I tried to make sure I had enough things or ideas to keep myself occupied for my time in isolation, books, sketch pad, movies and TV shows to watch.
While I was in the shower later my mobile rang, I answered it but couldn’t hear anyone but I did hear a faint voice from the other room. I went to investigate and couldn’t see anything then realised someone was at my door. I opened the door, still wet from the shower and holding a towel around me, to find two guys standing there. They asked me kindly to go and get dressed while they waited outside. One was from NT health department and the other was an NT police officer. They asked if I had any COVID-19 or flu like symptoms, then informed me of the process for the next fourteen days. They also said to expect a phone call on the room phone from NT police at any time during the day to check on me.
TV shows and movies pretty much became my life for the whole fourteen days. That and waiting for my next meal. It’s pretty sad when the highlight of my day was pacing the confinement of my hotel room waiting for the next meal to be delivered. I did laugh at myself as I waited impatiently for that knock on the door where I would then open it to find a brown paper bag containing a meal and a drink. Also on the odd occasion I would stand at the door looking through the peep hole just to catch a glimpse of someone passing by.
I had started watching the TV show Billions, with Damien Lewis, that’s an interesting show if you are looking for something to watch. It kept me occupied while I researched the stock market, dreaming of how nice it would be to have lots of money to pretty much do what I want. It also made me think about all the money I have wasted over the years and how I certainly could have been smarter with my money when I was younger. My biggest problem over the years has been spending lots of money on impulse buying what I want and not what I need.
The days rolled by and I received lots of messages and phone calls from people checking on me. The family were really good but I also received calls from work, the base chaplain, the psychology unit and my daily calls from NT police.
During the first week I thought the meals were pretty good but then I started to crave better fruit and veggies, the hotel really liked serving oily chips with their meals. I eventually posted on Facebook asking for assistance for a food delivery and a friend happily obliged. The next morning I received a nice delivery of a whole water melon, frozen veggies, fresh milk, cereal and a big bag of apples. It was such a nice relief.
During Facetime conversations with Shayne and Harrison I started to pick up that Harrison was getting very short tempered and I realised he had a bit of pent up anger, most likely due to me leaving. We had a chat with him and finally got out of him that he was feeling alone and unloved from me leaving and Shayne’s attention focussed on the baby most of the time. We explained to him about why I had to go away and why Shayne was spending most of her time with the baby and that he will always be loved, no matter what. It was also the first time since changing his schools that he thanked us for changing schools because he wasn’t happy at the last one.
Having young kids and working away is a bloody hard thing to try and balance. I tried to make sure that before and after school I would do what I could with him over Facetime. Shayne even photographed his home readers from school and sent them to me so I could read along with him.
Around the five day mark before I was due to come out of isolation I was tested for COVID-19, oh boy that certainly ticked the nostrils or my brain, I’m not sure but it wasn’t nice either way.
In the first week I was there I was doing exercises with resistance bands, push-ups, and jogging back and forth of the five metre length of the room, but it soon died off to the occasional push-up and pacing the floor. My lower and back and legs were becoming very sore from all the sitting and lying around and I was really looking forward to getting out.
Then came the final day. I packed all my things up and called work to ask for a lift. I made my way down to reception, checked out and eagerly awaited my lift to arrive. It was a fantastic feeling walking out the front door to the hotel. I could happily stay there again, in or out of quarantine but I think I might like wait a while.
It was a great feeling having freedom to roam again. I was also very thankful that I am mostly an introvert who happily enjoys my own company; otherwise I think I might have gone insane over those fourteen days.
At the time of writing this, some of the other guys I live and work with have still not been able to fly home to see their family. They are now coming up on seven months away from their home due to COVID-19.
Sailing The Unknown 