ACCIDENTALLY RETIRED

As we settle into the new normal of lockdown, Kirstie Clements finds a silver lining in the excuse to slow down and sample the low-adrenaline lifestyle of chocolate digestives, board games and dressing down for dinner

- Kirstie Clements

The call came out of the blue. It was early March and I was having breakfast with friends at a gorgeous lodge between Gundagai and Tumut, in Kosciuszko National Park. We were to attend a wedding later that day; people had flown in from around the world to be there, and we were all sitting around discussing what we were going to wear when my phone rang. It was the New South Wales Department of Health. “Can you find somewhere private to have this chat?” asked a very serious nurse on the other end. “You were on Flight 833 from Melbourne to Sydney last week, weren’t you? You have been identified as having sat within two rows of someone who tested positive for COVID-19 and you must put on a mask and self-quarantine immediately.”

And so, I headed back to my room, had a gin-and-tonic and potato crisps from the minibar for lunch, and grumpily missed my friends’ wedding, effectively entering into self-isolation about 10 days before every Australian was ordered into lockdown.