Crafty Quarantine - by Sophie Kerr Azevedo
I'm currently in Hotel Quarantine in Melbourne with my two kids aged 9 & 11. I've been asked to share our story and experiences with you all. We hope you enjoy our stories and crazy antics while we manage our time in quarantine. I also would like to say, given the fact we came from the current epicentre of Covid (Brasil), I think the government is doing absolutely the right thing in quarantining people entering from overseas. <3
Our background: We have been living overseas for 7.5 years, in Singapore, Thailand and finally Brasil. We were planning to move back to Adelaide at the start of April, but a global pandemic altered our plans slightly. The kids had their last class on March 17, after this their school closed and our city went into lockdown. So from Wednesday March 18 to Tuesday June 9 (when the school year ended) the kids were engaged in Distance Learning. This was one of the main reasons we stayed in Brasil until June, why we didn’t come back to Adelaide earlier. We were in a reasonably safe area - people wearing masks, self isolating, supermarkets were calm and well stocked. We were staying in an AirBnB just outside of our city in the country (we had moved out of our home and packed our whole house into a 40 foot container). We had little contact with anyone except the host and trips to the supermarket. We had loads of outdoor space, and decent (ok, patchy, but good enough) internet. We thought, the kids are enrolled in school, they are learning, we may as well stay. How bad can it get…?
Our background: We have been living overseas for 7.5 years, in Singapore, Thailand and finally Brasil. We were planning to move back to Adelaide at the start of April, but a global pandemic altered our plans slightly. The kids had their last class on March 17, after this their school closed and our city went into lockdown. So from Wednesday March 18 to Tuesday June 9 (when the school year ended) the kids were engaged in Distance Learning. This was one of the main reasons we stayed in Brasil until June, why we didn’t come back to Adelaide earlier. We were in a reasonably safe area - people wearing masks, self isolating, supermarkets were calm and well stocked. We were staying in an AirBnB just outside of our city in the country (we had moved out of our home and packed our whole house into a 40 foot container). We had little contact with anyone except the host and trips to the supermarket. We had loads of outdoor space, and decent (ok, patchy, but good enough) internet. We thought, the kids are enrolled in school, they are learning, we may as well stay. How bad can it get…?
Day 1-3
After a 30 hour trip, we arrived in Melbourne late in the evening from our flight. We had to wait a while to disembark and could only do so in groups of 10. We received a load of paperwork, information etc from various people along the way before we arrived at a station to give our information and find out which hotel we were being transferred to. Passport control, baggage collection and customs all the same procedure (albeit much quieter and quicker). We were given a little snack box then transferred to a skybus to go to the hotel. All the personnel at the airport were super nice and helpful. Everything was really smooth and quick.
Arrival and check in at the Hotel was also smooth and easy. We were given another little snack box for our evening meal, and more paperwork to read.We were lucky and are so grateful that we were allocated an interconnected room so we have a decent amount of space to spread out and to keep our 9 bags, plus 2 backpacks.
Day 1 done and dusted. Lots of paperwork to read, supermarket orders to place and just settle in to our home for the next 14 days...! Our first couple of days under lock and key… I started by placing a supermarket order, I was probably overly excited about all the yoghurt options available to me. I haven’t had such choice in so many years!
Day 2 we were pretty hungry early on, as we all woke super early from the jetlag. Much to our relief, lunch was promptly delivered just after midday to much in-room excitement. We were given a roast pumpkin salad, which was quite tasty, plus loads of snacks and drinks to keep us going throughout the afternoon.
I have been trying to get some routine into the day, so the kids (and I) don’t turn into complete couch potatoes. So after lunch we logged onto some educational videos and mini-lessons. Kids were pretty unimpressed as they are supposed to be on school break!
I packed a lot of craft to keep the kids occupied and off screens (as much as possible) during this time, so we started on making snowflakes and streamers to stick on the windows. We created a “Cosy Corner” to snuggle into and do a bit of reading and people watching from the 8th floor. The space catches the sun all day, so it’s a nice spot to hang out.
Day 3 our groceries arrived! Super exciting! Vegemite and cheese sandwiches for all! For someone who has been out of the country for a while, Vegemite and Cheese sandwiches are very, very exciting. In the afternoon the kids got a little bit crafty with some origami and mini-models of their favourite places. Super cute and lots of fun. As we were still suffering from the 13 hour time difference we had a slow afternoon and maybe a little bit too much TV. I have included some photos of the place we were staying in Brasil and from our first few days of hotel quarantine
Arrival and check in at the Hotel was also smooth and easy. We were given another little snack box for our evening meal, and more paperwork to read.We were lucky and are so grateful that we were allocated an interconnected room so we have a decent amount of space to spread out and to keep our 9 bags, plus 2 backpacks.
Day 1 done and dusted. Lots of paperwork to read, supermarket orders to place and just settle in to our home for the next 14 days...! Our first couple of days under lock and key… I started by placing a supermarket order, I was probably overly excited about all the yoghurt options available to me. I haven’t had such choice in so many years!
Day 2 we were pretty hungry early on, as we all woke super early from the jetlag. Much to our relief, lunch was promptly delivered just after midday to much in-room excitement. We were given a roast pumpkin salad, which was quite tasty, plus loads of snacks and drinks to keep us going throughout the afternoon.
I have been trying to get some routine into the day, so the kids (and I) don’t turn into complete couch potatoes. So after lunch we logged onto some educational videos and mini-lessons. Kids were pretty unimpressed as they are supposed to be on school break!
I packed a lot of craft to keep the kids occupied and off screens (as much as possible) during this time, so we started on making snowflakes and streamers to stick on the windows. We created a “Cosy Corner” to snuggle into and do a bit of reading and people watching from the 8th floor. The space catches the sun all day, so it’s a nice spot to hang out.
Day 3 our groceries arrived! Super exciting! Vegemite and cheese sandwiches for all! For someone who has been out of the country for a while, Vegemite and Cheese sandwiches are very, very exciting. In the afternoon the kids got a little bit crafty with some origami and mini-models of their favourite places. Super cute and lots of fun. As we were still suffering from the 13 hour time difference we had a slow afternoon and maybe a little bit too much TV. I have included some photos of the place we were staying in Brasil and from our first few days of hotel quarantine
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Days 4-6
As part of Hotel Quarantine, you must take 2 swab tests, the first one on your third full day in Quarantine. Oh what fun that was. At least I had some face to face conversation with another human. The nurse asked me to grab a chair and sit down. The nurses didn’t enter my room, and we can’t exit, so I wedged the chair in the doorway. She proceeded to swab the back of my throat, which wasn’t too bad....then with the same swab she probed my nostril in what felt like a never ending procedure. I won’t lie, it was hideously uncomfortable. My nostril still felt violated an hour later. The nurse asked if I wanted the kids to be swabbed and I thought it best, much to the kid’s horror (since we just came from the global epicentre and spent 30 hours flying in a tin can with a few dozen other people). My 11 year old was fine, 9 year old not so much. Unfortunately because he was wriggling so much the nurse had to give a sharp jab up the nostril to get an adequate sample. In the end we all survived.
On Day 4 I received a Welfare Check call. To review the mental health of the kids and me. The nurse asked many questions and spent 5 – 10 minutes talking to me, making sure if we really were doing ok. It was really reassuring to receive this call and to know if we weren’t ok, help was just a phone call away.
As tough as it is, I try to keep the kids off screens as much as possible, we just try to do some fun things and not get into a funk, which is very easy to do in these circumstances. We continued with some art and crafts today. One of our favourite games is something we call crazy mash up monster. Three people is a good number for this game. Each person has a piece of paper, you start by drawing a monster head, then fold the paper to hide the head. Pass the paper on, then you draw the body, fold the paper and pass on, then you draw the legs and feet. It always gives us lots of laughs and I love seeing the kid’s creativity. Sometimes we do this with stories too. Just a sentence at a time. It always ends up super funny and complete nonsense.
Day 5 we had our first Fresh Air Break!! After lunch we were let outside for 15-20 minutes for our “Fresh Air Break”. It was glorious. Views, blue skies, wind in our hair and Vitamin D! Kids had fun running in circles and playing hide and seek. It was great to get out, definitely not long enough but better than nothing. One of the nurses told me that there are 300 people in this hotel, so even though we (and everyone else) would love to get out more, it’s probably not really possible, with the number of people. Given the fact there seems to be only one deck we can go to, and only one lift can be used at a time. It would take a while for every room to have their allocated time outside.
We worked some more on our cosy corner. I think it’s important for kids to make their room feel homely and comfortable. We are here for a while (especially in the minds of children), and to make the kid’s space their own really helps lift their spirits.
So, my kids used to do trampoline gymnastics when we were living in Brasil, and they are missing this a lot. We set ourselves the challenge to try couple or group yoga poses. Let’s face it, we are terrible! My legs don’t go straight, and I never could perfect a downward dog. The kids aren’t too bad, both kids are quite strong and my daughter is quite flexible. But, we are terrible! And we are also hilarious. So each day after my workout the kids come and suggest some new poses for us to try. We usually fall in a heap together laughing hysterically. It’s a great release. Nothing like laughing until you have tears to put you in a good mood for the day.
Day 6 we received the news that we are Covid negative. All that washing and sanitising of groceries paid off! We’re definitely feeling that we have settled into quarantine life. Much of the day was spent watching Melbourne weather, cold, wintery and very windy. It was nice to see the rain clouds gathering and the sheets of rain on the horizon. At the end of the day we were graced by a gorgeous double rainbow in the late afternoon. I must say, I’ve never seen a rainbow with such distinct, bright colours. Was so beautiful. I’m glad I had the time to just look and admire it.
Fun Fact: Last post I included a photo of a toucan. There was a family of these amazing animals living in the trees on the property we were staying in Brasil, so we spent a lot of time observing them. Toucans don’t have a beautiful call. They actually sound like a barking pig. It’s pretty ugly and hilarious, and quite loud. Also, Toucans are hated in the bird world. They are egg snatchers. So quite often you see a bunch of other birds swooping toucans and being quite aggressive towards them to scare them away. Beautiful to look at, but not nice to listen to, and definitely not nice to their fellow birds!
On Day 4 I received a Welfare Check call. To review the mental health of the kids and me. The nurse asked many questions and spent 5 – 10 minutes talking to me, making sure if we really were doing ok. It was really reassuring to receive this call and to know if we weren’t ok, help was just a phone call away.
As tough as it is, I try to keep the kids off screens as much as possible, we just try to do some fun things and not get into a funk, which is very easy to do in these circumstances. We continued with some art and crafts today. One of our favourite games is something we call crazy mash up monster. Three people is a good number for this game. Each person has a piece of paper, you start by drawing a monster head, then fold the paper to hide the head. Pass the paper on, then you draw the body, fold the paper and pass on, then you draw the legs and feet. It always gives us lots of laughs and I love seeing the kid’s creativity. Sometimes we do this with stories too. Just a sentence at a time. It always ends up super funny and complete nonsense.
Day 5 we had our first Fresh Air Break!! After lunch we were let outside for 15-20 minutes for our “Fresh Air Break”. It was glorious. Views, blue skies, wind in our hair and Vitamin D! Kids had fun running in circles and playing hide and seek. It was great to get out, definitely not long enough but better than nothing. One of the nurses told me that there are 300 people in this hotel, so even though we (and everyone else) would love to get out more, it’s probably not really possible, with the number of people. Given the fact there seems to be only one deck we can go to, and only one lift can be used at a time. It would take a while for every room to have their allocated time outside.
We worked some more on our cosy corner. I think it’s important for kids to make their room feel homely and comfortable. We are here for a while (especially in the minds of children), and to make the kid’s space their own really helps lift their spirits.
So, my kids used to do trampoline gymnastics when we were living in Brasil, and they are missing this a lot. We set ourselves the challenge to try couple or group yoga poses. Let’s face it, we are terrible! My legs don’t go straight, and I never could perfect a downward dog. The kids aren’t too bad, both kids are quite strong and my daughter is quite flexible. But, we are terrible! And we are also hilarious. So each day after my workout the kids come and suggest some new poses for us to try. We usually fall in a heap together laughing hysterically. It’s a great release. Nothing like laughing until you have tears to put you in a good mood for the day.
Day 6 we received the news that we are Covid negative. All that washing and sanitising of groceries paid off! We’re definitely feeling that we have settled into quarantine life. Much of the day was spent watching Melbourne weather, cold, wintery and very windy. It was nice to see the rain clouds gathering and the sheets of rain on the horizon. At the end of the day we were graced by a gorgeous double rainbow in the late afternoon. I must say, I’ve never seen a rainbow with such distinct, bright colours. Was so beautiful. I’m glad I had the time to just look and admire it.
Fun Fact: Last post I included a photo of a toucan. There was a family of these amazing animals living in the trees on the property we were staying in Brasil, so we spent a lot of time observing them. Toucans don’t have a beautiful call. They actually sound like a barking pig. It’s pretty ugly and hilarious, and quite loud. Also, Toucans are hated in the bird world. They are egg snatchers. So quite often you see a bunch of other birds swooping toucans and being quite aggressive towards them to scare them away. Beautiful to look at, but not nice to listen to, and definitely not nice to their fellow birds!
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Days 7-9
Day 7 officially marked the halfway mark, this was a nice little milestone to achieve. Truth be told, the days are definitely feeling more and more like Groundhog Day, but each day brings its little sparks of excitement!
Groundhog Day usually starts early for me, as I’m still suffering a little from jetlag. I think the fact that we can’t get outside and bathe in sunshine means our body clock is taking longer than usual to adjust to the new timezone. I’m sure once we get out and can be more active my body clock will wake up!
Mornings usually fly by, with numerous cups of tea, morning TV and facetiming my husband and our kitty back in Brasil. It’s comforting that my husband has our cat Mingau (Portuguese for Porridge) to keep him company. Mingau is an extremely vocal and affectionate cat. He is missing the kids, in particular our daughter, as her bed (or her head!) is his bed of choice. My husband (like many people globally) is working from home now, and he spends most of his day on the phone, his colleagues have become well acquainted with Mingau and his yowls for food or attention. They often ask what is going on with the cat?! Why is he so loud? That’s just Mingau, he likes to make his presence known! 😊
As I said, little sparks of excitement make the day go by quicker, on day 7 our excitement was Nachos for lunch! They were pretty tasty and the guacamole was really yummy. Kids were super excited, and this excitement doubled when they received Pringles as part of their lunch pack (hint: I rarely, if ever let them have chips!).
So, in quarantine, I believe that some rules need to be loosened a little (or a lot!?) to get through the days. As part of our afternoon routine of craft activities and educational iPad time, we also squeeze in some physical activity to let off steam…Not sure if this would be condoned by the hotel and I would never let my kids do this anywhere else, but the kids designed a new game with a small toy airplane. They jump on their bed (they have a double bed each) and throw the plane at each other! They also do crazy jumps dodging and weaving as the airplane is about to hit them. This is definitely against the rules, but whatever gets you through another day of quarantine! And, again, most importantly it gives us a lot of laughs!
We have added to our Cosy Corner with our mascot, Mr. Jolly Olly Octopus. Amongst the craft supplies I packed for quarantine was a bunch of crepe paper (doesn’t take up room or weight in the suitcase and you can craft so much from it). So we started making streamers for our corner, then we had the idea of making an octopus (as the streamers look like legs) and Jolly Olly was born. We think he looks quite dapper in his top hat and cane. He will probably go back into the suitcase and come to Adelaide with us, we can’t bear to leave him behind!
My kids have lived most of their life outside of Australia, and when we came back to visit it never was for a long period of time, as we would use the school breaks to travel in the region we were living in, or move countries! So because of this, Australian TV and Australian pop culture in general is a whole new world for my kids. They have absolutely come to love the mid to late afternoon Australian content provided on the ABC. Must watch shows include Little Lunch, Mustangs, and my personal favourite “Are you tougher than your ancestors”. The kids also love “Are you tougher”, as it features Australian history and geography, so it helps them understand this new country and culture they’ve moved to!
Day 9 - FriYAY!
Something I’ve learned living abroad and moving countries is routine and activities that are meaningful to your family matter. They matter when you’re feeling homesick, missing friends, or nervous about the next move. Routines give that little bit of comfort that we are all here together, as a family unit and as long as we are together it’s going to be ok. A special routine for us is Friday night pizza. When we are at home it’s a somewhat homemade pizza. Kids sometimes put the toppings on themselves and they have their favourite flavours (my daughter’s favourite is Tuna and Palmito, this is very popular in Brasil). So of course I had to continue the tradition. I ordered pizza via UberEats, the kids were a little confused when the doorbell rang before 6pm (when the hotel dinner is delivered). We opened the door to see a very smiley security guard and our pizza! Kids were super surprised and excited. I must say it was probably best pizza I’ve had in years. We absolutely devoured it. We continued the tradition with some popcorn and a movie (and some wine for me!). We finished the week with our hearts full.
I have included a photo of our kitty Mingau, we adopted him after we moved to Brasil. The kids were desperate for a pet, and as we were planning on staying in Brasil for a few years we agreed to find our furever friend. I said to the kids, let the cat choose us, not us choose the cat. Mingau definitely chose us. Once I picked him up, he clung on as if he was giving me a hug and he hasn’t let go since. He settled into our family immediately and has been a great support for the kids when they need some extra comfort. I strongly believe that a pet is for life, and this was something we committed to when we adopted Mingau. Wherever we go, he will come. It’s no easy feat importing a domestic animal into Australia (lots of blood tests and paperwork) believe me, but in time he will arrive!
Groundhog Day usually starts early for me, as I’m still suffering a little from jetlag. I think the fact that we can’t get outside and bathe in sunshine means our body clock is taking longer than usual to adjust to the new timezone. I’m sure once we get out and can be more active my body clock will wake up!
Mornings usually fly by, with numerous cups of tea, morning TV and facetiming my husband and our kitty back in Brasil. It’s comforting that my husband has our cat Mingau (Portuguese for Porridge) to keep him company. Mingau is an extremely vocal and affectionate cat. He is missing the kids, in particular our daughter, as her bed (or her head!) is his bed of choice. My husband (like many people globally) is working from home now, and he spends most of his day on the phone, his colleagues have become well acquainted with Mingau and his yowls for food or attention. They often ask what is going on with the cat?! Why is he so loud? That’s just Mingau, he likes to make his presence known! 😊
As I said, little sparks of excitement make the day go by quicker, on day 7 our excitement was Nachos for lunch! They were pretty tasty and the guacamole was really yummy. Kids were super excited, and this excitement doubled when they received Pringles as part of their lunch pack (hint: I rarely, if ever let them have chips!).
So, in quarantine, I believe that some rules need to be loosened a little (or a lot!?) to get through the days. As part of our afternoon routine of craft activities and educational iPad time, we also squeeze in some physical activity to let off steam…Not sure if this would be condoned by the hotel and I would never let my kids do this anywhere else, but the kids designed a new game with a small toy airplane. They jump on their bed (they have a double bed each) and throw the plane at each other! They also do crazy jumps dodging and weaving as the airplane is about to hit them. This is definitely against the rules, but whatever gets you through another day of quarantine! And, again, most importantly it gives us a lot of laughs!
We have added to our Cosy Corner with our mascot, Mr. Jolly Olly Octopus. Amongst the craft supplies I packed for quarantine was a bunch of crepe paper (doesn’t take up room or weight in the suitcase and you can craft so much from it). So we started making streamers for our corner, then we had the idea of making an octopus (as the streamers look like legs) and Jolly Olly was born. We think he looks quite dapper in his top hat and cane. He will probably go back into the suitcase and come to Adelaide with us, we can’t bear to leave him behind!
My kids have lived most of their life outside of Australia, and when we came back to visit it never was for a long period of time, as we would use the school breaks to travel in the region we were living in, or move countries! So because of this, Australian TV and Australian pop culture in general is a whole new world for my kids. They have absolutely come to love the mid to late afternoon Australian content provided on the ABC. Must watch shows include Little Lunch, Mustangs, and my personal favourite “Are you tougher than your ancestors”. The kids also love “Are you tougher”, as it features Australian history and geography, so it helps them understand this new country and culture they’ve moved to!
Day 9 - FriYAY!
Something I’ve learned living abroad and moving countries is routine and activities that are meaningful to your family matter. They matter when you’re feeling homesick, missing friends, or nervous about the next move. Routines give that little bit of comfort that we are all here together, as a family unit and as long as we are together it’s going to be ok. A special routine for us is Friday night pizza. When we are at home it’s a somewhat homemade pizza. Kids sometimes put the toppings on themselves and they have their favourite flavours (my daughter’s favourite is Tuna and Palmito, this is very popular in Brasil). So of course I had to continue the tradition. I ordered pizza via UberEats, the kids were a little confused when the doorbell rang before 6pm (when the hotel dinner is delivered). We opened the door to see a very smiley security guard and our pizza! Kids were super surprised and excited. I must say it was probably best pizza I’ve had in years. We absolutely devoured it. We continued the tradition with some popcorn and a movie (and some wine for me!). We finished the week with our hearts full.
I have included a photo of our kitty Mingau, we adopted him after we moved to Brasil. The kids were desperate for a pet, and as we were planning on staying in Brasil for a few years we agreed to find our furever friend. I said to the kids, let the cat choose us, not us choose the cat. Mingau definitely chose us. Once I picked him up, he clung on as if he was giving me a hug and he hasn’t let go since. He settled into our family immediately and has been a great support for the kids when they need some extra comfort. I strongly believe that a pet is for life, and this was something we committed to when we adopted Mingau. Wherever we go, he will come. It’s no easy feat importing a domestic animal into Australia (lots of blood tests and paperwork) believe me, but in time he will arrive!
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Day 10 - 12
.....We’ve hit double figures....definitely on the countdown to leaving the hotel room, flying to Adelaide and bunkering down for another 14 days…
Day 10 I spent the morning feeling the quarantine blues, with my face squished to the window looking out at the traffic jam of taxis picking up my fellow detainees for the voyage to freedom. Only 5 more days...
As I previously mentioned, routine is what keeps us (somewhat) sane during this period. I swear by routine to get you through the challenging times. So to get out of my slump, I got into the daily routine of FaceTime, workout and almost breaking our necks doing our yoga challenges. After this, the doorbell buzzed announcing the arrival and excitement of lunchtime. And that’s the morning done!
We have tried to dedicate the afternoons to crafting and screen free time. My daughter and I decided to create a stop motion video with her hatchimals and tiny toys. First we crafted the furniture and props required for the movie. We used the cardboard snack boxes we receive each lunch time to create the mini props. The card was perfect! We then planned a story line and put together a little stop motion video. It was loads of fun (my daughter said it was the best day in quarantine so far!) and I found it really interesting to see how she planned the scenes, movements and sound effects. This little video took us two full afternoons, so it was a great project, but also a good consumer of time. Something very useful in quarantine!
We have dutifully continued with our yoga challenges, which often ends with us on the floor in absolute hysterics (excellent stress relief!). On Day 12, the kids had some really great ideas. My daughter and I managed the pose, then looked at each other in horror as we realised she couldn’t get down (she used a stool to get on, which my son removed to take the photo)! End result was me killing myself laughing while trying to keep still so my daughter wouldn’t fall and her yelling at my son to get the stool, whilst he was running around trying to film the whole thing. Was absolutely hilarious. We managed the pose again, with a more elegant, but equally hilarious dismount. We laughed so much, I had tears.
On days 11 & 12 we were granted Fresh Air Breaks. Again, much excitement when we received the call that our release time was pending. Shoes on, masks on!! It was a bit drizzly outside and bitterly cold on both days, but still so lovely to just be outside, enjoy the fresh air and to have something different to look at.
Because it was a bit wet and drizzly, the ground was slippery so the kids couldn’t run and jump as they did previously. After the initial disappointment of not being able to run and do cartwheels, they used their imagination and creativity to design some pretty cute rock sculptures.
Day 12, it was that time again. Upon returning from our time outside, there was a trio of nurses waiting for us, armed with swabs. Wonderful! It was interesting that the testing method changed from the previous week. The nurses commented that this has happened several times already! So this time, we still had the throat swab, but both nostrils had to be swabbed. Luckily the nostril swab was a bit quicker, or maybe this nurse was a bit gentler than the one who administered the first test. Anyway, this time the nostril part wasn’t so bad. Still fairly unpleasant, but not the worst thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. It’s over in a matter of seconds, and definitely worth the momentary discomfort to know your Covid status.
Feels like we’re on the home straight now! It’s really feeling close. On Day 15 we fly to Adelaide on a morning flight. So for most of day 15 we will have the sweet taste of freedom. Momentarily...! Then we’ll be back into quarantine. At least in Adelaide we’ll have outside space and the support of friends and family to drop off essential supplies, craft and books for the kids. I’ve already asked my Dad to buy us a soccer ball and a netball, so I can train the kids up to slot right into the school teams when they start term 3.
In my first post I included a photo of a toucan which was living in the property we were staying at in Brasil. Last week my husband (who is still there) recorded the call of the toucan. As I said previously, a beautiful bird, but not such a beautiful call!
.....We’ve hit double figures....definitely on the countdown to leaving the hotel room, flying to Adelaide and bunkering down for another 14 days…
Day 10 I spent the morning feeling the quarantine blues, with my face squished to the window looking out at the traffic jam of taxis picking up my fellow detainees for the voyage to freedom. Only 5 more days...
As I previously mentioned, routine is what keeps us (somewhat) sane during this period. I swear by routine to get you through the challenging times. So to get out of my slump, I got into the daily routine of FaceTime, workout and almost breaking our necks doing our yoga challenges. After this, the doorbell buzzed announcing the arrival and excitement of lunchtime. And that’s the morning done!
We have tried to dedicate the afternoons to crafting and screen free time. My daughter and I decided to create a stop motion video with her hatchimals and tiny toys. First we crafted the furniture and props required for the movie. We used the cardboard snack boxes we receive each lunch time to create the mini props. The card was perfect! We then planned a story line and put together a little stop motion video. It was loads of fun (my daughter said it was the best day in quarantine so far!) and I found it really interesting to see how she planned the scenes, movements and sound effects. This little video took us two full afternoons, so it was a great project, but also a good consumer of time. Something very useful in quarantine!
We have dutifully continued with our yoga challenges, which often ends with us on the floor in absolute hysterics (excellent stress relief!). On Day 12, the kids had some really great ideas. My daughter and I managed the pose, then looked at each other in horror as we realised she couldn’t get down (she used a stool to get on, which my son removed to take the photo)! End result was me killing myself laughing while trying to keep still so my daughter wouldn’t fall and her yelling at my son to get the stool, whilst he was running around trying to film the whole thing. Was absolutely hilarious. We managed the pose again, with a more elegant, but equally hilarious dismount. We laughed so much, I had tears.
On days 11 & 12 we were granted Fresh Air Breaks. Again, much excitement when we received the call that our release time was pending. Shoes on, masks on!! It was a bit drizzly outside and bitterly cold on both days, but still so lovely to just be outside, enjoy the fresh air and to have something different to look at.
Because it was a bit wet and drizzly, the ground was slippery so the kids couldn’t run and jump as they did previously. After the initial disappointment of not being able to run and do cartwheels, they used their imagination and creativity to design some pretty cute rock sculptures.
Day 12, it was that time again. Upon returning from our time outside, there was a trio of nurses waiting for us, armed with swabs. Wonderful! It was interesting that the testing method changed from the previous week. The nurses commented that this has happened several times already! So this time, we still had the throat swab, but both nostrils had to be swabbed. Luckily the nostril swab was a bit quicker, or maybe this nurse was a bit gentler than the one who administered the first test. Anyway, this time the nostril part wasn’t so bad. Still fairly unpleasant, but not the worst thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. It’s over in a matter of seconds, and definitely worth the momentary discomfort to know your Covid status.
Feels like we’re on the home straight now! It’s really feeling close. On Day 15 we fly to Adelaide on a morning flight. So for most of day 15 we will have the sweet taste of freedom. Momentarily...! Then we’ll be back into quarantine. At least in Adelaide we’ll have outside space and the support of friends and family to drop off essential supplies, craft and books for the kids. I’ve already asked my Dad to buy us a soccer ball and a netball, so I can train the kids up to slot right into the school teams when they start term 3.
In my first post I included a photo of a toucan which was living in the property we were staying at in Brasil. Last week my husband (who is still there) recorded the call of the toucan. As I said previously, a beautiful bird, but not such a beautiful call!
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Days 13-15
Our time in Hotel Quarantine has come to an end. I must say, the last days of quarantine went much faster than expected. I think just the anticipation of the end and the comfort of our routine got us through. All in all, for us, the experience wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. My kids handled it so well. They knew why we were doing it, and accepted it wholly. I think coming from Brasil where the virus is rampant and having close friends in the USA they knew that the sacrifice we were making was totally worthwhile.
The last two days of quarantine we followed our routine of crazy yoga, my workouts, educational screen time, not so educational screen time and screen free time! We created another stop motion video. My daughter had the idea to make a tutorial for those of you who are interested to know how to make a stop motion video. Again, a great consumer of time, with the writing of scripts, rehearsals, re-takes etc. Lots of fun though. I really enjoyed creating these videos with her and seeing her expertise and creativity at work.
On one of my earlier posts someone suggested the Mr. Squiggle game (sorry, I can’t remember who!), well, it was a massive hit. The kids LOVED it. So hilarious. They just loved that they could create anything. Such a great expression of creativity. Again, I was so amazed with the sketches they came up with from my crazy little squiggle. I tried to make the squiggles really complex and unique, and they always had an awesome response. Thank you for the suggestion!
The last day of quarantine passed like the others, although the afternoon was filled with packing up our space and getting organised. I was hoping given the mess we had created over the past fortnight the packing would take longer than it did, but we were very efficient! Probably the kids were motivated to clean their space as they had the carrot of watching their favourite afternoon shows.
And then it arrived - Release Day!
Wooohooo! The day finally arrived. We started pretty early as we had a flight to catch. We checked out of the hotel just after 7am and were on our way to the airport, savouring our short taste of freedom. The hotel organized our transport which was great, we needed a huge van, given the amount of our luggage!
Tullamarine Airport was pretty quiet, with only one entry point, so we had to make our way over to terminal 4, a 5 minute walk which we enjoyed as it was the furthest we had walked in a couple of weeks.
When the taxi dropped us off at the airport, we were blessed with a wonderful act of kindness from a security guard. He saw I was confused by the trolley system, then outraged at the price ($4 per trolley! Robbery!), then defeated as I realised I didn’t have a valid credit card. He proceeded to unlock the trolleys and bring three over to us. Absolutely wonderful as I don’t know how we would have managed to move the 9 bags and 2 backpacks without the trolleys. ❤️
We made it through the quieter than usual Check-In and security, I grabbed the first real coffee in weeks (tasted amazing!) and headed to our gate.
I was quite surprised that the flight was pretty full, but given it was the only direct flight to Adelaide on that day I guess it made sense. Disappointingly, on the plane few people wore masks even though the airline gave complimentary pouches with mask, sanitiser and alcohol wipes.
We arrived in Adelaide and had the really nice surprise of the familiar faces of family at the arrival gate. Of course there were no hugs, just very exuberant waving! Before we could leave the arrivals area we had to check in with the Police. We gave our details and where we were staying over the next 14 days. We headed to the taxi rank, found a massive van for all our bags, headed to the AirBnB and started Quarantine #2.
So this ends our time in Hotel Quarantine. As I said above, it wasn’t so bad, and could have been much worse. The room was a decent size, the staff were very helpful and attentive, and the food was fresh and healthy and always delivered on time. The kids were absolute rock stars and managed the time really well. I think we had a decent time together and we have some great memories and stories from the time we spent in Hotel Quarantine in 2020.
Thank you readers, to all of you for your comments, likes and It was so touching to receive your messages of love and support. I was blown away with the kindness and generosity from all of you. Thanks for your interest and thank you for reading. xxxxx
Our time in Hotel Quarantine has come to an end. I must say, the last days of quarantine went much faster than expected. I think just the anticipation of the end and the comfort of our routine got us through. All in all, for us, the experience wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. My kids handled it so well. They knew why we were doing it, and accepted it wholly. I think coming from Brasil where the virus is rampant and having close friends in the USA they knew that the sacrifice we were making was totally worthwhile.
The last two days of quarantine we followed our routine of crazy yoga, my workouts, educational screen time, not so educational screen time and screen free time! We created another stop motion video. My daughter had the idea to make a tutorial for those of you who are interested to know how to make a stop motion video. Again, a great consumer of time, with the writing of scripts, rehearsals, re-takes etc. Lots of fun though. I really enjoyed creating these videos with her and seeing her expertise and creativity at work.
On one of my earlier posts someone suggested the Mr. Squiggle game (sorry, I can’t remember who!), well, it was a massive hit. The kids LOVED it. So hilarious. They just loved that they could create anything. Such a great expression of creativity. Again, I was so amazed with the sketches they came up with from my crazy little squiggle. I tried to make the squiggles really complex and unique, and they always had an awesome response. Thank you for the suggestion!
The last day of quarantine passed like the others, although the afternoon was filled with packing up our space and getting organised. I was hoping given the mess we had created over the past fortnight the packing would take longer than it did, but we were very efficient! Probably the kids were motivated to clean their space as they had the carrot of watching their favourite afternoon shows.
And then it arrived - Release Day!
Wooohooo! The day finally arrived. We started pretty early as we had a flight to catch. We checked out of the hotel just after 7am and were on our way to the airport, savouring our short taste of freedom. The hotel organized our transport which was great, we needed a huge van, given the amount of our luggage!
Tullamarine Airport was pretty quiet, with only one entry point, so we had to make our way over to terminal 4, a 5 minute walk which we enjoyed as it was the furthest we had walked in a couple of weeks.
When the taxi dropped us off at the airport, we were blessed with a wonderful act of kindness from a security guard. He saw I was confused by the trolley system, then outraged at the price ($4 per trolley! Robbery!), then defeated as I realised I didn’t have a valid credit card. He proceeded to unlock the trolleys and bring three over to us. Absolutely wonderful as I don’t know how we would have managed to move the 9 bags and 2 backpacks without the trolleys. ❤️
We made it through the quieter than usual Check-In and security, I grabbed the first real coffee in weeks (tasted amazing!) and headed to our gate.
I was quite surprised that the flight was pretty full, but given it was the only direct flight to Adelaide on that day I guess it made sense. Disappointingly, on the plane few people wore masks even though the airline gave complimentary pouches with mask, sanitiser and alcohol wipes.
We arrived in Adelaide and had the really nice surprise of the familiar faces of family at the arrival gate. Of course there were no hugs, just very exuberant waving! Before we could leave the arrivals area we had to check in with the Police. We gave our details and where we were staying over the next 14 days. We headed to the taxi rank, found a massive van for all our bags, headed to the AirBnB and started Quarantine #2.
So this ends our time in Hotel Quarantine. As I said above, it wasn’t so bad, and could have been much worse. The room was a decent size, the staff were very helpful and attentive, and the food was fresh and healthy and always delivered on time. The kids were absolute rock stars and managed the time really well. I think we had a decent time together and we have some great memories and stories from the time we spent in Hotel Quarantine in 2020.
Thank you readers, to all of you for your comments, likes and It was so touching to receive your messages of love and support. I was blown away with the kindness and generosity from all of you. Thanks for your interest and thank you for reading. xxxxx
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Life after Quarantine
It has been almost exactly one month since we completed our Double Quarantine. We completed 2
weeks of Hotel Quarantine in Melbourne in mid June, then another two weeks in an AirBnB in Adelaide,
before we moved into our new home in Adelaide.
A lot can happen in a month.
When we left Melbourne, things were opening up. We wore masks in the airport and on the plane.
People looked at us as if we were a bit silly. Life was looking up, Australia was re-opening and things
were getting back to a “new normal”. We all started to relax.
We all know what has happened in the past month, and our hearts are breaking.
Life after isolation and quarantine has been a bit of a roller coaster. It has been harder to adjust than I
expected (add to that repatriation after living abroad for more than 7 years). The first few days and
week or two after we finished quarantine were pretty exhausting. On our first day of freedom we
needed to hit all the major stores to start setting up house. My kids and I were in awe in the
supermarket, people everywhere, no masks, little social distancing. The feeling of freedom and
normality was a revelation. However, we were also extremely nervous, sanitising our hands constantly
and being super careful keeping our distance from others, not touch our face, etc. A few hours back in
society resulted in us being grouchy, snappy and exhausted. Essentially overwhelmed! After being in
lockdown since March and quarantine for 4 weeks, it was all too much!
We have resumed normal life pretty quickly. Kids were enrolled into school and started term 3 on time,
I joined a local gym, and we’ve signed up to a bunch of extra-curricular and after-school activities. The
hamster is back in the wheel and running at top speed. It’s exhausting! I forgot how exhausting life is.
Many people have reflected upon life in and after Iso, and how their priorities have changed, or how
they may now approach life differently, appreciate the small things, smell the roses. I definitely identify
with this. I have become more aware how tiring it is to be running from A to B all the time and trying to
jam in as many activities as possible. I’m starting to try to carve out more time to be still and have empty
hours or days, just us as a family. Which is very hard when you’ve moved countries! I think the kids
have adjusted back into “normal life” reasonably well. They are definitely happier being back in the
school environment and spending more time with their peers than with me (which is important at their
ages). However, I think they too have become more aware or tuned in to how they need to slow down
and spend time alone drawing, reading or creating something from their imagination. They probably do
this more now than they did pre-Iso, or is it that they just didn’t have the time and opportunity to do so?
weeks of Hotel Quarantine in Melbourne in mid June, then another two weeks in an AirBnB in Adelaide,
before we moved into our new home in Adelaide.
A lot can happen in a month.
When we left Melbourne, things were opening up. We wore masks in the airport and on the plane.
People looked at us as if we were a bit silly. Life was looking up, Australia was re-opening and things
were getting back to a “new normal”. We all started to relax.
We all know what has happened in the past month, and our hearts are breaking.
Life after isolation and quarantine has been a bit of a roller coaster. It has been harder to adjust than I
expected (add to that repatriation after living abroad for more than 7 years). The first few days and
week or two after we finished quarantine were pretty exhausting. On our first day of freedom we
needed to hit all the major stores to start setting up house. My kids and I were in awe in the
supermarket, people everywhere, no masks, little social distancing. The feeling of freedom and
normality was a revelation. However, we were also extremely nervous, sanitising our hands constantly
and being super careful keeping our distance from others, not touch our face, etc. A few hours back in
society resulted in us being grouchy, snappy and exhausted. Essentially overwhelmed! After being in
lockdown since March and quarantine for 4 weeks, it was all too much!
We have resumed normal life pretty quickly. Kids were enrolled into school and started term 3 on time,
I joined a local gym, and we’ve signed up to a bunch of extra-curricular and after-school activities. The
hamster is back in the wheel and running at top speed. It’s exhausting! I forgot how exhausting life is.
Many people have reflected upon life in and after Iso, and how their priorities have changed, or how
they may now approach life differently, appreciate the small things, smell the roses. I definitely identify
with this. I have become more aware how tiring it is to be running from A to B all the time and trying to
jam in as many activities as possible. I’m starting to try to carve out more time to be still and have empty
hours or days, just us as a family. Which is very hard when you’ve moved countries! I think the kids
have adjusted back into “normal life” reasonably well. They are definitely happier being back in the
school environment and spending more time with their peers than with me (which is important at their
ages). However, I think they too have become more aware or tuned in to how they need to slow down
and spend time alone drawing, reading or creating something from their imagination. They probably do
this more now than they did pre-Iso, or is it that they just didn’t have the time and opportunity to do so?
