Doing My Time

Pan Pacific Hotel, Rm 1214 (Melbourne)

Wednesday 29 April 2020

It’s hard to believe that this time last week I was sailing with Keith and Adam around into Wellington Harbour – and in the process, setting a Chimere world speed record of 15.2 knots.

Certainly, a lot of things have happened in the past 7 days.    Each step bringing me closer to my final release time of Midnight on 11^th May.

The electric blinds do an excellent job of cutting out the light, and whilst I knew it must have been close to “getting up time” … you couldn’t tell from the sun’s early light – there was none sneaking past that blind.

It was the rustling of paper that had me jumping down off my monster-soft, king-sized bed with four big spongy pillows, reaching for my Zapp Brannigan super-short dressing gown and running to the door. 

“What treat do they have instore for me today?”, I mused, as I reached into the bag.

Feels kind of warm-ish, and I’m sure IF it could have been presented … sorry, “plated-up” … in an expensive ripple-china bowl, with a sprig of mint on the side, instead of a cheap plastic rice-take-away-tub, with matching thin, white plastic spoon, it may have had me. 

That said, I’m not wanting to appear ungrateful, or uncomplimentary to the cook, sorry again … chef … because I started out with the attitude of … “go ahead … surprise me … I’ll eat whatever is dished up” … just like my dear mother taught me, all those years ago.

Fortunately, in keeping with the old saying, “don’t judge a book by its cover” …  this morning’s breakfast-offering tasted a lot better than the “boutique gruel” it was disguised as.  On further analysis, it looked to comprise a combination of oats and strawberry yoghurt, interspersed with soft “real” strawberries, plus small … I can only describe them as … “fruits of the forest” … some red and some black.

I gotta say, I ate most of it … and now it sounds like I’m complaining … which I’m not, but the big surprise was reserved for the nano-sized muffin, hiding down in the corner of the bag.  It was the cutest, smallest wee muffin I have ever seen. It was the kitten-muffin amongst cat-muffins and if it was a sardine, you’d have to throw it back.    It was tasty, no question, but once it and the small tub of fruit had gone, it was back to wondering … this time, “what’s for lunch”

Late morning, I received a email reply from the Government Support Service regarding how I might be able to order Woolworths groceries online, through the issuing of a “Kindness Card”.  It even had a colour attachment of the 16 Step process, which I managed to work through, without resorting to “phoning a friend” … which in my case would have been asking my son, Matt for help.

My ongoing “wellness” was checked again, via a phone call from the resident nurse, and I was able to confirm “No” to each of the infection-related symptoms.   So far, so good

Looking back through my “Posts” of the past few days, it was interesting to see that Monday’s message, titled … “Won’t Forget This Day in a Hurry” has received 62 views, with the previous day’s blog recording 37.  May not sound much to the likes of Justin Bieber, or Taylor Swift … but as a mere grasshopper in this cyber-world space, with average daily Views in the 15-20 per Post, it’s a lot for me.

My New Zealand sailing buddy, John Land has grabbed the opportunity to relocate from the top of the North Island, where he’s been in isolation for 5 weeks following his father’s funeral, (on the very day the Alert Level 4 Lockdown was introduced) to Christchurch, where he normally lives with his wife and youngest daughter. 

Accommodation for his brief stop-off in Wellington was all sorted … “just stay on the boat” says I, of course unaware that the marina management was NOT going to let anyone enter the liveaboard “bubble” … despite yesterday’s slackening of the restrictions to Level 3.  They had obviously only made the concession for me, and me alone. And here I was innocently thinking that since I was permitted to stay for a few days, that it would be fine for John to prop for the night. 

Fortunately, John was at least allowed to spend a few hours aboard Chimere, soaking up the “vibe” of the big city just a few metres off the bow, and picking up his coffee plunger and a few other things.  Having left the boat so quickly a month ago, as John related, “It’s kind of surreal to be back on board again”

As recorded in the earlier Post …  “Decision Time”, covering 22, 23, 24 and 25 March, John’s father passed away suddenly, the night before we were all set to head off for a few day’s sailing.  We were sitting down in the saloon for dinner, everything was packed and ready for sailing out the next morning and John got a call from his sister to say … “dad had just died”. 

Naturally, John headed off within a couple of hours, Annette, Martyn and Gary left soon after and the “adventure” came to a grinding halt … confirming beyond any doubt, given everything else that was going on, that it was indeed time for everyone to return to their respective homes. For some, it’s clearly taken longer than others!

John was able to send me a photo of Chimere, which was nice to see.  And although he’ll be staying with his niece tonight in Wellington (and not on the boat as originally planned) he IS able to make use of all the remaining frozen food aboard, and other fresh stuff, to support a local community-pantry that is helping families in the area who are finding it tough to get by at the moment.

Along with my breakfast, I received the latest “Coronavirus (COVID-19) mandatory quarantine – Keeping you undated, 28 April 2020” newsletter this morning.  Not the catchiest of titles I must admit.  Maybe they could have gone with something shorter, punchier, more hip … like, perhaps … “Going Viral – Not”  or “Quarantimes” or
“My Darling Quarantine” … I’m on a roll …

The title … “My Corona”, could possibly be confused with a Toyota model of old … a bigger version of the Corolla … or perhaps a beer appreciation society, or even personal accounts of past solar eclipses … but I digress …  that’s just silly …  

The two-sided newsletter really didn’t have much new information, as it turns out … unless you weren’t aware, or needed reminding, that we should … “Respect Our Workers”. 

Apparently, hotel staff, nurses, security, transport and call centre staff are working hard to respond to our needs and requests, and therefore should not be threatened or abused.   Mmmmm, say no more!  

The newsletter also reminded me that I have a $40 laundry allowance … which will be handy when my 14-day underpants-cycle rolls around in a few days.  Plus, there was a national hotline number for interstate travellers to call for details of what they can expect when they finally get home … to their state. (and I thought we were a COMMONwealth?!)  

It reminded me of a guy on the bus yesterday – was it really just yesterday??? – who’d flown in to Melbourne from Auckland, but was actually trying to get home to Perth.  He’s in the same building as me doing his 14 days … and when he flies to Perth at the end of that (assuming there are planes flying at that time) he’ll do another 14 days isolation there.

Must go, I think I can here the sound of voices outside the door … and more importantly, rustling paper … it can only mean one thing … dinner!!  Surprise me!!

Smooth seas, fair breeze and doing my time

Rob Latimer