…idiots.

So now it appears that Australia was a little early to start patting itself on the back about it’s performance with Covid 19 and fast track economic recovery. Apparently the ‘Australian dumbarse bogan factor’ wasn’t taken into account when they were busy circlejerking themselves about our pandemic response and it appears that the abundant ‘Idiot Australian’ will now be our downfall as infection numbers rise and the economy plummets into a war era level depression.

Victoria is turning into a zombie wasteland of lockdowns and infections while the leakage spills over the borders despite the other state’s best efforts. Idiots sneaking into other states in the boots of cars, idiots refusing to quarantine, idiots not social distancing, idiots steadfastly refusing to stay at home when they’re sick.

Seeing a pattern yet?

403 new cases in Victoria overnight. Record infections. NSW cases on the rise and oozing out into regional areas. New cases in Batemans Bay  – only 2 hours away from here and a popular Canberra weekend getaway. For Canberrans it’s only a matter of time now.

Ohh lookee! Another big BLM protest is planned for Sydney on Tuesday of next week despite the pandemic restrictions and risks involved to the wider community.

Idiots, idiots, more fucking idiots.

It’s only just occurred to me that I’m trapped in Australia at the moment alongside all of these goddamned idiots  – we are one of the few countries that have closed our borders to OUTGOING travel as well as INCOMING.

Think about that for a second.

We. Can’t. Leave.

Deadlocked inside this isolated burning building, and for what reason exactly?

We can’t leave our country without government permission – a faceless online process with little wiggle room for argument.  The process is simple enough – apply for a leave pass online (IF you qualify), provide evidence and documentation…and then wait for a YES or NO.

They recommend that you don’t book any travel before approval BUT then ask you for flight numbers, ports of departures and travel details as part of the application process. WTF?

Oh and then there’s the 4 week wait for processing before you even get a YES or NO (please reapply).

Better tell Grandma to hang in there if you don’t have your shit together in Australia, travellers.

Yes I’m frustrated this week – all my Antarctica approval are in and travel is booked but the clock is ticking and NOW if some faceless drone in Home Affairs or Border Security deems that all my provided documentation and information isn’t enough (or their literacy skills are lacking so that they fail to appreciate context) then they can just delay me for weeks or worse still, stop me dead in the water.

Lately I’ve gotten weirder – started quietly growling at people who stand too close in shops or on the escalators;  quietly hissing at laughing children and overly chatty people like a feral cat in a box and generally wincing at other human beings vapidity  – becoming a grumpy old vampire recoiling from humanity; weirdly my internal monologue is slowly leaking out and I absently talk to myself more than normal. Caring less about the world around me, I farted loudly in a crowded supermarket queue and was smugly satisfied that people moved away from me. (Ok that one was at least funny – social distancing achieved! 😂 )

Moods are bouncing up and down though as the mental stagnation and stress levels creep up incrementally. Chocolate helps, red wine doesn’t. The obsessive hand sanitising has aged my hands 30 years and my daily caffeine intake has quadrupled (which explains a lot I guess).

All of this waiting and uncertainty is grinding my positivity down faster every day.

Watching my savings account slowly bleed out is sobering but I still take a stubborn pride in refusing to apply for the government handouts.

I’m supposed to fly to New Zealand on the 1st August, time is getting short for these approvals to come through.

Canberra has proven to be a safe haven for the time being : there’s a slightly elevated level of ‘Aussie Idiot’ here. Luckily they’re in manageable numbers contained in well defined suburbs so are relatively easy to avoid.

Where I live the streets are largely deserted but still find myself sharing a Manuka cafe with Nick Kourios or a good morning wave from Mal Meninga as I wander past his house on La Perouse Street.

The risk to travel outside the state is too large at this stage and a trip to Queensland to see my daughter probably wont happen.

She’s 16 in December and I haven’t seen her in person since this time last year.

Yep I’m a shit father.

My daily city hikes have crept back up to the 17km mark but my nights are largely sleepless (theres that caffeine again)

Luckily I’ve found a discreet covid-safe cafe with decent coffee and fast, free Internet so I while away the mornings now downloading every damn update, new movie and song that I can find.

lemme outta here!

 

*** Update 29/7/20 – the Australian travel exemption actually came through in 5 days – I was quietly amazed. The only thing thats stopping me now is the NZ travel approval which hasnt come through yet – and I’m flying on Sunday 2/8/20!