As Padma, Joseph and I hit the tarmac at the Perth International Airport on Tuesday night we knew our real adventure was only about to begin. The dreaded forced hotel quarantine awaited us. We had read online of so many experiences of Aussies in quarantine; so many folks just couldn’t cope with being locked up for 14 days. We had no idea how we’d manage but we had one overriding rule: keep a positive attitude, no matter what.

Our first contact with an Australian was with an attendant who handed us a new face mask and requested we disinfect our hands. We then met a nurse who took our temperature and did a bit of a health interview. Then it was the usual routine and we passed through immigration and customs. We then queued in a single line with the 80 other passengers to meet with a woman in front of a computer. ‘You’ll be staying at the Pan Pacific Perth,’ she informed us. It’s a five-star hotel in the center of Perth. We knew after doing our homework that we wouldn’t be able to choose a cheaper hotel or one closer to our family. You don’t advance book for a quarantine hotel in Australia.

We then queued up to meet with the police. Yes, police complete with their vests and tazers, no public health officials. We presented a QR code on our phones to show that we had been approved to enter Western Australia. ‘You will be confined to a hotel room and cannot leave for 14 days,’ he informed us. He rattled off a bunch of other rules and then highlighted that these aren’t guidelines but enforceable laws and if we disobey we’ll be slapped with big fines and jail time.

We queued up again and this time were led outside where the 80 of us were distributed amongst four buses. We waited and then waited some more on the bus till we saw some flashing lights – our police escort. The bus driver fired up the engine and our convoy of buses paraded down the highway to downtown Perth with squad cars at the head and tail flashing their lights. Quite the VIP treatment to mark our return home. But there were no throngs of people lining along the road to welcome back their fellow Aussies.

On arrival to the hotel, we waited in the bus as one by one we disembarked with our luggage to be processed and assigned a room. Fortunately we were offered adjoining rooms so the three of us could be together but not in each other’s hair for 14 days. ‘You’ll have to pay for an extra room,’ the man at check in said. ‘How much?’ I asked. I knew the answer anyway as we did our homework. ‘Can we opt out of the food service?’ Padma asked. ‘No, it’s all part of the package,’ he said. That ‘package’ will end up costing us AUD5800. Non-negotiable.

We were given an electronic key card and informed it was for one-time use. In other words, once we entered the room there was no going out till our release 14 days later. We were happy with the room configuration and found the rooms slightly larger than normal inner city hotel rooms and had a nice view of Perth. We knew in advance that we wouldn’t have access to fresh air. The windows don’t open and we aren’t allowed to have outside fresh air breaks. Time will tell how we cope with being deprived of fresh air.

Five hours after arriving in Perth and 32 hours after leaving Frankfurt and Paris we finally were able to rest. There was a knock on the door around midnight and I opened it to find our dinner in plastic bags and takeaway containers. Cold pasta but we were starving and scarfed it down.

The next morning, I opened our room door to look for breakfast. They left it at Joseph’s door, two metres away. I stepped out to retrieve the meal and within a microsecond a guard appeared. ‘Where are you going?’ he asked. ‘I just want to get my breakfast,’ I pleaded. ‘No! Get back in your room, I’ll get someone to bring it to your door,’ he commanded. I meekly obeyed and retreated back into my room. A few minutes later someone knocked on the door. I opened it and was able to retrieve our food without stepping out in no man’s land.

In the afternoon of our first full day, we got another knock on the door and found three large shopping bags filled with food and other essentials. Padma’s brother, Sudahkar, had made sure we wouldn’t go hungry during our stay. Later in early evening we got another knock on the door and found a microwave. Padma’s sister, Jo, and her brother, Diwaker, dropped off another load of quarantine essentials. Despite their proximity we had no opportunity to see Padma’s family. Dinner came a few moments later but this time we were able to heat the food and eat with proper plates and cutlery. We had no complaints.

On our second day we got a knock on the door and discovered a big box of goodies. Our friends from our Syrian days, Ken and Mary Street, had packed an enormous care package with yummy food and sweets and plenty of books and even a colouring book with pencils. We messaged through our thanks and Ken was fuming. ‘I had a nice Margaret River red and Corona beer for you,’ Ken wrote. ‘They wouldn’t deliver it.’ And that’s the rule: no deliveries of alcohol to quarantined guests in Western Australia. The hotels cites a liquor act of 1988. However, we are free to buy as much alcohol as we like from the hotel bottle shop. Hmmm … I’ll save further thoughts on that for a later post …

Despite the draconian measures and the expense, we have no complaints. On the other side of this, we’ll take residence in a State that has eluded community transmission of COVID since April. We’ll be able to have a degree of normalcy in our lives which is missing from nearly everyone now throughout the world.

Two weeks locked up in a hotel is a small price to pay.

From the moment we walked off the plane we have been overwhelmed with friendly Aussies doing their best to make a difficult situation bearable. From the immigration official to the customs inspector to the police officer to the hotel staff and even to the floor security guard … nothing but very pleasant Aussies helping us out.

We’re thrilled to be home and grateful to the Australian Government for its efforts to curb this deadly virus.