Isolation on the Arlington Esplanade

Latest update: March 30, scroll down for older posts

We are currently in Cairns, Queensland (Australia). We booked our flight to Australia before the government announced an obligatory 14-day house-arrest for foreign travellers, but the regulation was already in place when we landed. We were planning to rent a camper van and drive to an isolated place to enjoy nature, but, unlike in New Zealand, we weren’t allowed to quarantine from a camper van. Getting food delivered might also have proved to be a challenge with no fixed address. We decided to make the most of it and rent a nice Airbnb overlooking a piece of Australia’s immense shoreline. We chose Cairns, as this was a stopover on our flight headed for Sydney. It’s located in the North East, close to the Great Barrier Reef. We will stay here at least until March 31, away from any human or animal contact. The house we’re staying in is huge – bigger than we thought. Shame we can’t host parties here, really. Our house overlooks Clifton Beach, a beach we’re not going to be at much since it’s swarming with crocodiles. The street is called ‘Arlington Esplanade’. Pete accidently wrote ‘Escapade’ on the immigration card, which was probably more fitting. We’re mostly on the top floor, as that’s where our bedroom, kitchen/lounge and outdoor terrace is located. On this outdoor terrace, we will be doing most of our “work”. We intend to make this self-isolation a productive one. We set ourselves little goals so we don’t become Netflix professionals and alcoholics. While the world slowly is going on lockdown, we are trying to sit this one out lightheartedly. To all the bored and quarantined out there, we invite you to follow our liveblog.

DAY 14 – March 30, 2020

Final day at the Arlington Esplanade.

Our cockroach is definitely getting more ballsy. He doesn’t even try to hide anymore when we approach him. Makes me want to squash him a little bit to send a message. Maybe I’m not such a good friend.

Today is the day I’ve been looking forward to all week. Today we eat all the leftovers. This stuff excites me.

For me, no award winning meal is as good as a mishmash of whatever’s in the house. Potatoes, gin, half empty wine bottles, eggs, tomatoes, garlic, pumpkin, frozen pizza, stale crackers and a crumpet? Heaven.

On the last day of obliged quarantine we treated ourself to a date to the museum. We gave each other an hour to prepare an art exhibition, with the limited supplies we had in the Airbnb. Hidden from each other, we each designed our own spare room in a way that would make the Tate Modern jealous. Using bark, cardboard, items lying around and a pen we became art masters of the new world. All dolled up and armed with a glass of wine, we gave each other a tour through our exhibitions. See pictures below.

We had an interesting meal of wine with potato wedges, and ended our last day in the villa by watching yet another film about an apocalypse. If the world would go down tonight, at least we’d go out on a high.

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DAY 13 – March 29, 2020

Woke up from a dream in which we were at a Winter Wonder festival with our dear friends. Looked on my phone and found a few recent messages telling me to ‘come online’. Dragged myself out of bed, poured myself a coffee and logged into Zoom (video-call software) and found a festival going on there. “Down the Corona Hole”, as a Saturday night substitute for the festival ‘Down the Rabbit Hole’, which will likely be cancelled. About 15 friends in fancy dress, having a massive rave at what for us was 8 AM. Needless to say, I turned my coffee Irish and joined the party. I was gutted to have missed the first hours of the online festival, as I thought it would take place tomorrow. Still, I was surprised by how big of a success the party was. I was not very productive for the rest of the day. The good thing about the aim to write a book is that you can place all forms of procrastination under “research”. Reading a book? Desk research. Watching Netflix all day? Character investigation.

Today we decided to be adventurous and order a Sunday Roast on delivery. What can possibly go wrong when you transport a plate full of gravy in a bag? Thankfully, it was perfect. Though it’s still difficult to do a food exchange on 2 meters distance. The delivery man must have felt like he was feeding a wild animal, carefully placing his bag of meat in the middle of our garage while I was lurking in the shadows, growling hungrily.

We started watching a Netflix show about circuses. Putting aside the animal abuse, the circus must have been a pretty fantastic experience in the late 1800’s. No doubt in my past life I must have been a bored little country girl, who decided to join the circus when they passed through my sleepy village. I bet it was wonderful. Work hard, travel a lot, and party alongside the most colourful people of their time. The circus crew really seem like they were focused and hard working people, far ahead of their own time. Although it was probably a bit easier to entertain and amaze people than it is nowadays. They once even drove around demonstrating electricity and selling it as magic. I wonder what my circus skill would be. “COME SEE JO AND HER INCREDIBLE MIDDLE TOE!” (Can I flick it? Yes I can. Almost).

Today our flying stick insect came back to us. I was planning to write a kids book about him, until I found out there’s already a book out there which I really can’t top. It’s a complicated love story about a stick insect falling in love with a stick. I think that’s genius.

DAY 12 – March 28, 2020

Every morning that we wake up, we both read through any updates from Europe. Seeing that we’re 10 hours ahead, most of the news doesn’t really reach us before then. Until a few days ago, there were daily updates and a lot of chatter in Whatsapp group chats about new Corona-measures taken back home. Now a lockdown is in place in the UK and the NL’s are tightening their policy around gatherings, there’s less news coming out. It feels kind of nice to know what we’re up for in the next month(s). We see that in Australia the measures taken seem to be a bit behind on those in Europe, but we decided to not follow the news too closely and just prepare for another month in isolation. Since we can’t control what’s going on we decided to try and leave our worries behind and focus our imagination on something productive. I’ve always wanted to write. Like many others in isolation, today I started a new project: a book. I sat down, closed my eyes and just let the words flow through me. Before long I had a chapter on paper. Not much longer after that, it was in the bin. As it turns out the process of writing is like being in a rollercoaster. As I’m not going to be able to find any work this month, I am going to entertain myself with this. If it brings me a good book, I can investigate what it takes to get it published. If it brings me a bad book, it was a good writing exercise.

Pete has also spent the day writing, but his words come in tunes. We were both in some sort of trance until we had something on paper and on recording we could be proud of.

DAY 11 – March 27, 2020

Our Airbnb host had come to tell us he found a beautiful house for us to live in, for a very affordable price. We were over the moon, but later found out we cheered too soon. Somebody else booked it while we were arranging practical matters. We felt strange all day – surely we had already said ‘yes’ to the place?

We decided to go for another house with a large outdoor area and swimming pool instead, but we had trouble enjoying it. The disappointment had knocked us off that pink cloud, and reality crept in. It’s all good and well being in quarantine for 14 days, but another few months of social distancing? It’s sad being in this beautiful country where I wanted to go for many years, and not being able to see it. If you look at it positively, it’s probably better for us than having to rent a flat back home and still not being able to socialise. Still, there’s this eery feeling that’s now creeping in. I think we’ve been able to mask that eery feeling that many other people we speak to seem to have. New country, new climate, new house.. Our own place for a while after 4 months of sleeping in mountain huts and daily moving from one hotel to the other… We looked forward to having time to ourselves.

For years I’ve told myself: if I had a bit more time, I would build that website. I would plan filming a documentary. I would write a book. I would learn a new language… If there ever was a perfect time to do so, now is it. But still I find myself staring at ships in the distance, fantasising on what a puzzle it must be to keep 1.5 meter distance of others when you’re working on a ship. I picture a scene from 90’s PC game ‘Lemmings’, where the lemmings working in the underground mines have to turn around when they hit a wall. And I find myself sorting cutlery based on size and usage marks. I have all the time in the world to do what’s been on my to do list for many years and still I find myself procrastinating. I’m running out of excuses why I haven’t done all the things I said I was going to do for many years.

Day 10 – March 26, 2020

Yesterday we heard that we will not be able to rent a camper van and cruise through Australia as state borders, national parks and campsites will be closing. Shame, we have been here for two weeks and we’ve not seen anything. The nice weather we’ve been having for the first week is gone too. If it wasn’t for the mutant critters here we could think we were in the UK or the Netherlands. No sign of Tom Hanks too. I’m starting to think he might not be subscribed to our website, everyday excitingly waiting for the next blog to come out.

By now, half the world seems to be in isolation. I can’t shake the negative feeling that this must be a wonderful experiment for someone. There’s so much to learn from our behaviour in this crisis situation, and how we deal with isolation. At the same time, I keep thinking about all the measures that are in place and the economical downfall that has followed and will get even worse. Are the measures that are taken still proportionate to the effects of the virus? I’ve been wondering what the point is that people start resisting measures taken by the government, because they go to far. And how that differs per culture. Nevertheless, my heart goes out to people suffering – it must be a horrible way to go. I also think about the people who can’t even say goodbye to their loved ones. Often exchanging last words aren’t even possible, as being together as a family isn’t allowed in the hospitals/ retirement homes. And for us, the simple sacrifice of staying inside is nothing compared to the sacrifice healthcare workers are making, or people living in development countries for who this is a matter of life and death.

DAY 9 – March 25, 2020

Our cockroach is really bad at hiding. Last night I remembered that I had to put some (covered) food in the fridge, so I flicked on the lights of the kitchen and saw our friend trying to hide in the corner. I pretended to walk away to give him some extra time to hide, and he ran off as soon as I turned around. I then grabbed a few unused plastic bags out of the closet in order to throw a bit of rubbish away. And there he was. “Hiding”. We think he really wants to be friends with us. I do hope it’s always the same cockroach.

This morning, Pete found ants in his granola. He’s getting worried the ants will attract ant eaters, and the ant eaters will attract lions. Are delusions part of the symptoms?

Our day was about finances. Taxes, budgeting, investing, making financial prognoses. Horrendous, but had to be done.

I found myself following and predicting the repetitive movements of my computer screensaver for a while. Furthermore, I remeniscent about the yellow pages. When I was a kid, I got really excited by flicking through the Yellow Pages. When I got bored of my toys, video games or friends, I’d always be happy to see that trustworthy big book full of information lying there, next to the landline. Today, I started doing that again. Just got less of a kick out of it as it’s digital. There’s an dirty, soaking wet yellow-pages like book in the gutter outside of our house that looks interesting. I have a Kindle so there’s really no excuse to fish old books from gutters, but I’m still intrigued with it. Maybe it’s all about wanting something I can’t have. Like a normal life with social interactions.

I can’t believe you’re still reading this.

DAY 8 – March 24, 2020

Another productive one. God, we’re annoying. I finally took the time to sort out the problems I’ve had with e-mailing from my iPad.

RANT ALERT: I’ve postponed doing this for a very long time, as I hate where we are nowadays with technology. We rely so much on our e-mails, digital forms, e-recognition, apps and what not. For someone who hasn’t got the patience to sort out IT stuff nor has the wish to sit behind a screen all bloody day, the world isn’t going in the right direction. You need to have some sense of technology to keep up. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve lost all my precious photos, because I thought they were saved on some sort of cloud. I’m not an aggressive person but my blood boils when someone (Pete) says ‘it’s not the software, it’s a user problem’. The hell it is! How often does it happen that I rely on the computer, and it completely lets me down? I didn’t ask for my e-mail account to suddenly be malfunctioning. If I knew that, I would have remembered the password for it. Every day I use a computer to solve IT stuff, I find myself on a hunt for lost password. Clicking links to retrieve this and the other and finding myself going around in circles, forgetting what I was initially doing. Only to find a full day has passed and the only things I’ve actually done is resetting some sort of account I didn’t knew I had and giving myself a throbbing headache.

Out of boredom, I also “fixed” the puzzle by recreating the last piece. I used cardboard and bandaids. Later, when I went rummaging through all cabinets to find new entertaining stuff, I found more board games. One, was a game called ‘snakes and ladders’. When I went online to find the rules of play, Pete started laughing. Apparently it’s a classic. The board was broken, but tied together with bandaids. Interesting coincidence. Maybe they need to provide some cello tape with their broken games. We also discovered a new game (for us), called ‘Chinese Checkers’ (made in Germany). What an exhilaration. Pure ecstasy when you hop from one end of the board to the other.

Furthermore, we did something illegal today, and I’m not telling what. But don’t get all excited – everything is illegal now.

DAY 7, March 23, 2020

We’re low on food. Our cricket and cockroach friends are slowly becoming potential prey. They’re a great source of protein. For the past week in Corona quarantine, we haven’t been showing any symptoms of the illness. We are, however, short of bread. (Update 5 pm: Yvonne, the heroic grocery delivery lady, came and sorted us out before we had to resort to desperate measures.)

We couldn’t stick to our puzzle ration today and finished it in one breath. Unfortunately, there was one piece missing. Feeling a strange sense of betrayal. Ended the night on Facetime with friends. To everyone in isolation: please video chat. It makes a big difference between being alone and feeling alone.

While I’m writing this, a giant flying twig has entered our house. We need to start closing windows at night. Sadly, he flew into our fan and injured one of his legs. We considered patching him up, but how do you fix a broken stick insect? Maybe another stick insect could act like a splint? Anyway, we took him outside where he clumsily flew off. He seems ok. Directly after this, I found a tiny frog sitting on our kitchen window. Pete came to take a look and pointed out that it had far too many legs to be a frog. He tried to take a picture, which caused the mutant alien frog to fly (!) inside the house towards the living room, where he’s now tormenting us. The living room has now overtaken the bathroom as the scariest place in the house…

DAY 6, March 22, 2020

Woke up, started my phone and immediately found my favourite people on Facetime. Having poured themselves a few drinks (it was evening in the Netherlands), Tessa and Tristan were waiting for us to join in. After having skilfully wrapped a sheet around myself with one hand, I gave them a little tour of the place, and we cracked open a morning light beer. Just to clarify: morning drinking was already in allowed in airplanes and airports, but now also in quarantine. Especially when you’re digitally meeting your best friends from across the world. Don’t worry mum, we sticked to that one drink and had an extremely productive day. I miss my friends a lot. Pete and Tristan were having an online jam session (really tricky), before Pete had to cut the session short to record a riff, as he suddenly had a lot of inspiration. They’re writing a new ‘Hemisphere’ song. You can find their first one here: https://open.spotify.com/track/0QWsd1IFxsD3aPVD38efKJ?si=Ho0gYHPwSlaG_1jq_07ELg

Tessa, an elementary school teacher, said she’s busier than ever been now she’s working from home. She’s giving parents advice on how to deal with their children now the poor bastards are alone with their spawn all day. Even in these times, the teachers are coming to rescue. I propose we all go and join the next protest for underpaid teachers, as they (along with healthcare workers) can’t get away with slacking off during these insecure times. I feel like a lot of other people are too hyped up or distracted to actually get any work done, which could be a really good thing. You’ve got a good excuse not to make a deadline, can mute those dreadful colleagues or clients, and you have more time in a day as you can skip getting dressed and don’t need to travel to work. Some (including myself) prefer to use this time to take some distance from work, and scratch that creative itch. I actually kind of like this guilt-free down time. Gives me time to write, learn new stuff and think about things I never have the time to think about.

Got bitten by a red ant today. These ants, they are not friends. They are foes. Like the funnel web spider, these hellish creatures are not welcome in my house, nor on our terrace. I will not kill them, but give them a stern talking to (and I will flick them) if I see them. Side note: in India, I went to see a holistic therapist. She was great – gave me some exercises to feel more grounded when anxious, and taught me how to better connect with Earth. After the session she said she made a pact with any spiders that would have the audacity to come into her house. She would kill them brutally and leave them as a warning sign for other spiders. Felt like a strange thing to say for someone who referred to the Earth as her Mother.

Today I found out that there are small variations in Dutch sign language. Why would we need more than one gesture for a certain letter of the alphabet? Could the other hand positions be considered different dialects? I did a practice exam today, and one of the words I had to translate was ‘Antivirus’. The virus seems to have even spread to YouTube. Also, we found out that Tom and Rita Hanks aren’t living in this part of Queensland, but nearer to the Gold Coast. I think we found the location for our next Airbnb.

DAY 5 – March 21, 2020

Today was the most sunny day of the week, and for the first time we felt locked up in the house. Having a view of the sea is great, but it’s difficult not going out and enjoy it from up close. We want to respect the rules of quarantine and, even though there’s not a single person around here, we can’t go out and go for runs or walks. We called the state to be sure about this, and the guy on the phone was very apologetic. Think he was giving me subliminal messages, though. “Formally, I can’t allow you to go out. But. Eh, Yeah. That’s what we have to say, anyway”. We reminded ourselves of the crocodiles and decided to go along with it and ly in the sun on the roof instead. I wonder how long it’s going to take before I’m going to rebel and illegally cross the street before anxiously turning home, afraid to get caught.

Organised a python safari in the garden today. The turn up wasn’t very big. Just a keen guy named Peter there. Didn’t see any pythons but noticed the trees are talking to us. When the wind blows they say “oooooh”, as if they’re remembering something. The bathroom is definitely the scariest room in the house. There’s a massive cricket in there, who creeps up to the gekkos. If I was a cricket, I would jump. This one slides. Today I got fascinated by the birds around here. The sound they make can be compared with puppies being killed and a spooky witches’ laugh. It wasn’t a very interesting day. Spent half an hour skipping rope on the roof, before deciding today was a write off. Spent the rest of the day Netflixing and preparing for a tropical storm that never came.

DAY 4 – March 20, 2020

There’s a toilet roll in the bathroom I am suspicious of. When the toilet roll stands upright, I imagine finding a spider in there that attacks me when I reach for it. We therefore have a strict rule in place that all toilet roles need to lie down, so you can see what’s in it. Ironically, this morning I found our cockroach friend in here. Here’s where’s he chose to hide from us, and he even had a little poo in there. He is clearly very clever, but a bit gross.

Today I realised that sign language isn’t universal, which I’m disappointed with. Now I will have to choose between Dutch or English sign language. I’ve considered learning Korean sign language, as its good to learn a niche. However, I stopped the online tutorial as soon as I learned the most important stuff – https://youtu.be/dVAhE1xGo04. I decided to learn sign language in my mother tongue (or ‘mother fingers’?). Maybe I can apply for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. Good goal to aim for.

We’ve enhanced our gym today, with a skipping rope, a bucket full of paint and a bluetooth speaker. See the pictures for our daily gym routine.

In the evening, we went back to learning languages. Today’s sign language class was about learning numbers… Good thing it was a simple one. I think it was 30 years ago since I learned to count with my fingers. Lesson learned, time for a nice gin & tonic.

Meanwhile, Pete has become addicted to crocodile videos. The videos are turning a bit violent. It’s incredible how quickly a crocodile can eat a whole deer. I’m not sure if I should be worried. Maybe he’s considering feeding me to the crocodiles as a thank you for my recurring Cher imitations.

After having had a few drinks, Pete gets better in Dutch and I get more and more freaked out hearing him speak it. Not long until I lose my secret language.

No sign of Tom and Rita today. Tom, in case you’re reading: WE HAVE VEGEMITE! Furthermore, our puzzle is almost done. We need more puzzles.

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DAY 3 – March 19, 2020

One of the cockroaches in the bathroom is starting to become a friend. We were a bit surprised to see that he ate a little gekko, which was also a friend. Sad. We hope it was the cockroach, anyway. We threw the remainders of our gekkofriend into the garden as a peace treaty for the pythons.

We also ventured outside for a bit, to collect sand from the beach. We couldn’t infect anyone on the beach, as the coast was clear (wheyheeeey). We opened a gym in one of the many unused rooms downstairs, and filled a bag with approximately 20 kg of sand, as a substitute for weights. I’ve started an online aerobics course, but don’t really like the teacher.

Pete’s learning some Tame Impala on the guitar, just in case Kevin Parker happens to knock on the door, with Tom and Rita following behind him. I’m sure we could jam from opposite sides of the room.

I’ve unsuccesfully spent 2 hours trying to get groceries delivered online. We successfully ordered a crate of light beers though, and a nice cold bottle of white wine in the fridge is calling. We also have Japanese whisky and gin, just in case. It’s hard not to become an alcoholic in quarantine, but we’ll try to refrain from drinking it all.

We just read that Australia is closing their borders today, so I guess we’ve arrived here just in time.

We ended the day working on a 500-piece puzzle listening to slow jazz with cups of tea. We should be careful doing this. It’s a slippery slope, before we know it we will be sitting in our armchairs, eating Werthers Originals while listening to classicFM. We’ve allowed ourselves to work on the puzzle three days a week. Better safe than sorry.

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DAY 2. March 18, 2020

We’ve set ourselves some goals. We’d like to have a routine in the next weeks. We’ll do daily workouts, read, write and learn a new skill and/or language. Pete ordered a guitar and picked up his online Dutch lessons. I’ve gotten interested in learning sign language, since I’ve been watching the Eurovision Song Contest for the deaf. Quarantine tip: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hlc3f08jWdw.

I also have a website that has been under construction for about two years, that I might finally be able to finish. If only I knew what I was going to do career wise, since the events industry has been hit hard. So in our daily routine, there’s also a spot for planning our lives. How are we going to get an income again? And where are we going to live when the peak of this outbreak has been and gone? We’ll try and map that one out in our evenings with a glass of wine, after a productive day. I think I want to do sign language for the next Eurovision Song Contest, though.

In the end, day 2 was mostly about doodling for me. I’ve spent 4 hours doodling on my iPad. I had a great day. In the evening we watched zombie apocalypse films on Netflix. So much for our goals made on day 1.

Furthermore, we found two cockroaches in our bathroom, and 9 big unidentifiable spiders. Apparently there are many crocodiles around here, and our garden is a python infested jungle. I guess it’s not going to be hard for me to stay inside for a while.

Tom Hanks said online that his wife kept beating him at Gin Rummy. We decided to add Gin Rummy to our lists of skills to learn, for when the outbreak has decreased, quarantines are over and Tom, Rita, Pete and I will be celebrating on the beach. Not sure you can play Gin Rummy on the beach around the crocs, but I’m sure Tom can make it work. He’s got a few years of surviving on a desert island on his CV, after all.

DAY 1 – March 17

Arrival in Cairns. Easy to get into the country. Only question asked: “do you know about the obligation to self-isolate?” Shame. I was secretly hoping to be in a new Border Security episode, being questioned by Border Patrol about my intentions here during this mysterious virus outbreak… I even practiced my answers during the flight. Part of me also hoped to be transported by a colony of army vehicles to our nearby Airbnb, where they would ceremonially lock us in like in a Big Brother episode, using a giant front door key. None of that. Just welcome to Australia.

We took an Uber and drove past the beautiful houses in our street, before arriving at Casa Quarantina. Meanwhile, Tom Hanks shared on Instagram he is also in quarantine somewhere in Queensland. Could it be? I’d love Rita and him as our neighbours, communicating with each other through tin cans connected by a string…

We got our groceries delivered to our doorstep by a local company and were pleasantly surprised. Great, locally sourced products and super quick. This was also due to the courtesy of our Airbnb manager, who had been in touch with the delivery service for us while we were on the flight. Amazing service.

By this point, we were treated like we were dangerously infected. We are both healthy and without any symptoms of illness but, wisely, all people in Australia we met have kept a distance of at least two meters. Our host tried giving us a tour of the house while maintaining at least 2 metres distance (quite tricky) and we found our groceries in our garage later in the afternoon, without a sign of life. It’s as if someone tip-toed their way into our garage, then slowly placed our shopping to the floor, just like Indiana Jones did in the Raiders of the Lost Ark, then vanished like Houdini. I wonder how it will be for us foreigners after completing our two weeks of quarantine. Will people still be afraid of us?

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