When my father told me that he was getting married again I accepted it as good news. He'd been alone and depressed since the divorce and when he met Debbie she clearly brought back his smile and his joy. So of course I was happy for him.
It was just after Thanksgiving in 2019 when they decided on getting married the following June. The plan was for four of us to take a family trip together instead of doing the traditional honeymoon vacation. The four of us being my father and Debbie, myself, and my new step-sister Taylor. The June date was set to coincide with Taylor graduating high school.
Taylor was pretty happy about the plan to take a trip to Australia because their drinking laws would allow even a freshly minted eighteen year old to enjoy a visit to a bar.
Over the ensuing months I got to know Taylor fairly well and we ended up getting along despite some serious differences. Where I was a devoted outdoorsman who loved hiking, off-road sports, climbing, and working out Taylor was your typical ginger. She was alabaster white and would get sunburned if she was in the sun for much more than a few minutes. She was also nearsighted and she had to wear glasses to see past her arm. She was cute in a dorky sort of way and I had no problem enjoying her company.
The news of COVID started up in January but most everyone I knew dismissed it as being an overhyped flu. Granted, we took it more seriously as time went on but we still had plans to visit Australia and we kept to them.
The wedding took place the weekend after Taylor's graduation. The next morning was a flurry of activity as we headed off to the airport. There had been a lockdown in Melbourne that May but it ended soon enough that our plans were not affected. It wasn't easy to get into Australia but we did and when we arrived we headed off to the house we'd rented for the vacation. We'd be there three weeks and we'd head home on July 9th just as planned.
The rental house was pretty amazing. It was in the town of Port Campbell situated on the ocean and that meant I had quite a lot to do every day. I quickly found myself a kayak and spent several of my days exploring the coast and getting in some decent fishing. My father and Debbie had a good time, of course, and Taylor made the best of it staying in the shade and catching up on her books.
You know how when you go on vacation you allow yourself to detach from the world and not have much care for the news? Yep, that was our mistake. Living in our little vacation bubble we had no idea that not only had COVID not blown over but it was getting worse.
We only got an idea that things were getting serious when my father got a toothache and decided to cut the honeymoon short by a couple days and go home. Turned out that a lot of Americans were trying to get out of Australia at that point so airline seats were at a premium. The best my father could pull off were two seats for himself and Debbie. Taylor and I would have to wait for our flight on July 9th before we'd get home.
Where we'd only be waiting a couple days for the flight my father paid for me and Taylor to stay in a decent enough Melbourne apartment with a view of the beach and the cruise pier. It was a great location and even though we'd just be there a couple days I was looking forward to making the most of the winter-time beach.
The airport situation was a little crazy so we ended up saying our goodbyes at the apartment and then Taylor and I watched as the taxi took our parents away.
That afternoon we went to a local store to get a few things and noticed that the other shoppers were all stocking up. Something about their faces alarmed me.
"What're you doing?" asked Taylor as I put down our handbasket and instead took a 'trolley' as they call grocery carts in Oz.
"I'm just being cautious is all. Look at these people, they're all freaked out and getting ready to hunker down. I don't know what's really happening but I want to make sure we've got everything we might need just in case."
Taylor was a little irritated as I started picking up sundries, snacks, toiletries, and enough food for a couple weeks. I told her that if nothing happened then I'd just leave the stuff out for someone else. She made a remark about how I was wasting my money and I ignored her.
On the way back to our apartment I slipped into a liquor store and picked up two cases of beer, six liters of vodka, six liters of whisky, and assorted mixers. Just in case, of course.
The news that evening confirmed my fears. Melbourne was going into six weeks of lockdown. We were going to be shut into our apartment and only allowed outside for two hours of exercise and one hour to go visit a store. I made a few frantic calls to the airline and it was the seventh time I tried that I got through to find out our flight was cancelled. A few more calls followed and I confirmed we weren't going to be allowed to leave for at least the entirety of the six weeks.
That led to calling my father back at home in the US. He handled the news with aplomb as if this was no big deal. I appreciated his confidence and doubly appreciated his promise to drop enough money in my account to see me and Taylor through the six weeks of lockdown. I felt better when I got off the phone and shared this news with Taylor.
The next day was the start of the lockdown and it was immediately apparent that the police were in no mood to play with anyone. We looked over the balcony of the apartment and saw people on the beach getting chased away or even arrested by the aggressive police. At one point one of the cops even yelled at us to go inside or get arrested!
It was really shocking to see the city become a big prison. You just don't expect that kind of thing to happen in a Western country and in this case it had happened so fast that there wasn't even time for anyone to protest.
Although we were supposedly allowed to go out to exercise I convinced Taylor to stay in due to wanting to avoid a problem with the police. Where we were set on food for a while I also decided against going shopping until we absolutely had to.
When we'd arranged for the apartment I was sleeping on the couch and Taylor had the bed. But a couple days into the lockdown Taylor had me switch because the bed was going to be more comfortable for me. Hate to say, but I didn't argue with her about that.
We passed our time talking a lot. I got to hear about her high school experience, her debate club victories, her attempts at art, and her plans to study higher mathematics in college. Taylor got to hear about my hiking trip to Nepal, my fishing adventure in the Red Sea, my close encounter with a bear in Alaska, and etc.
We even made it six days before I opened a case of beer.
Despite the cold weather we made a point of sitting out on the balcony at night. We would sit and chat and sip a drink and enjoy breaking one of the oppressive rules. Naturally we stayed out of sight because even though we were rebels we didn't want to push our luck.
An odd thing took place during our confinement as we tacitly agreed on some domestic practices. We never had to discuss it as we started doing laundry, cleaning dishes, and doing all of the normal things you do when you live together. For whatever reason we got along well as roommates and one day we both acknowledged this fact and each considered ourselves fortunate to have family we could like.
I don't recall precisely which day it was but a day came along where we didn't need to leave the apartment and neither of us bothered to get dressed. I spent the day in a t-shirt and shorts and Taylor spent the day in her night-time chemise and panties. That started a habit with us of being rather casual around the apartment.
