A Coronavirus Quarantine Journal, Day 13

The momentous last day of quarantine...at last!  We knew we'd have a visit from the Medical Team and a NSW Police delegation for a Final Screening and to issue our Covid-19 Quarentine Order for successfully completing our 14 days of isolation, and to notify them of our planned time of departure and method of getting home.  We had to wait till after breakfast before the thrilling knock on the door came, and there was a team of six - 3 doctors/nurses, 3 police, all smiling and jovial.  The doctors and nurses did their thing, duly witnessed by the police, so they could attest that we'd had our final screening.

They took our temperatures, asked again about any symptoms, then put on our green wristbands that will allow us to leave in the morning, and our certificates confirming our status.  Woo-hoo!  At 12:01 AM tomorrow, we can flee the scene and get out of Dodge!  We inquired about how many have been quarantined here and how many were positive, and they said there have been more than 14,000 people quarantined over the 7 weeks of the program.  They wouldn't disclose numbers of positives, but said there had been a lot over those weeks who tested positive, making the quarantine effort very worthwhile.  The teams congratulated us, wished us best of luck, and we thanked them for all their efforts, as they marched on to the next room.

So, as an anti-climax, I present here our Last Breakfast in Dodge (and I KNOW you know those Cocoa Puffs went straight into the bin!):

And our Last Lunch in Dodge:

We knew all this was happening because in the breakfast bag was this nice missive tipping us off to the protocol for the day and for our departure tomorrow - a cheery little memo, thanking us for our patience during the whole isolation process and spelling out details of the departure procedure tomorrow.  All very helpful and thorough.

So now, all that remained was to laze away the afternoon, get our baggage organized, and await our Last Supper in Dodge.  

We made a start on gathering bits and pieces from the hiding places we'd stashed them in the room, whiled away a little time on the 'Net, and at 5PM-ish the dinner knock on the door happened...the earliest ever.  We think they are now quite ready to be rid of us!  And there it was, our Chicken Schnitzel, Salad and Panna Cotta.  Funny, we didn't get at all teary-eyed as we ate...

We decided it might be prudent to do a first pass at our bags before we finished off the last of the Sauvignon Blanc...better chance of NOT forgetting anything.  

Yep.  It all still fits.  Though who knows if the clothes in these bags will still fit us after all this heavy eating!

At 6PM we had one last FaceTime with our Quarantine Buddy down the hall, raising a glass of wine to salute each other, celebrating our having survived the whole experience.  She leaves early tomorrow morning for Queensland so we won't have a chance to see her as we all leave the hotel.  This is definitely not the end of this friendship, though...we'll be staying in touch.  Altogether a delightful person.

So...only one remaining Quarantine Journal, tomorrow, after we arrive home in Bowral.  Trea and Wendie pick us up here at 10AM...see you all tomorrow, same time!