Our 336 hours of virtual house arrest began with our 6.33am arrival at Portsmouth Ferry Terminal.
Although I’d diligently completed our Passenger Locator Forms I was more anxious than usual as we approached the UK border and predictably not all went smoothly.
The pdf attachment of the form on my phone would not open – something that must be happening to others – and the reference number I was quoting was apparently not enough.
This led to a panicked scramble for my laptop so I could prove the form had been fully completed.
The delay gave time for the Border Force official to carry out a quick search in the back of the van, presumably for a stowaway migrant. Eventually all was deemed fine and we were on our way.
The quarantine rules state “you must go straight to the place you are staying”. Does that allow you to stop for a masked up Drive-Thru Costa or to pick up some milk and bread on the way home?
In both situations we presumed they were as in the former we didn’t leave our van and the latter surely counted as the exceptional circumstances for “accessing basic necessities like food and medicines where you cannot arrange for these to be delivered”
The other rules state: “You cannot go out to work or school or visit public areas. You should not go shopping. If you require help buying groceries, other shopping or picking up medication, you should ask friends or relatives or order a delivery. In England, you must only exercise within your home or garden.”
Not sure how the authorities will keep track of us but with a £1,000 fine and a criminal record at stake we will now stay at home for the next 14 days.
A Tesco food delivery has arrived and the kids have been primed to be on hand if we run out of vital food supplies.
How will we fill our days? Mrs Jones will be working full-time from home for nine of those days.
I’m planning to mix up my days with some exercise – we’re lucky enough to have our own home gym with treadmill – and lots of gardening which after more than two weeks away gives me plenty to go at.
In addition there’s lots of sport to enjoy. The US Open Tennis has just begun and my Amazon Prime subscription will enable me to fully indulge as many games as I want when I want.
Then there’s the start of the football season with my Fantasy Football team to choose and the first of the games to follow on September 12th.