Our new semester started as our previous one ended – in lockdown. Melbourne went into a 14 day lockdown in May, successfully bringing a small outbreak of the COVID Delta variant to an end. We reinvented our graduation service and final farewells and, despite everything, had a great end to the semester. David quipped to the staff team – ‘now we’ve reinvented every week of the semester except for week one.’ 

A few weeks later there was another outbreak of the Delta variant in Sydney, which is still growing. Our plans to go to a CMS conference followed by a holiday in New South Wales were hastily rearranged. We enjoyed a last minute, low key, but very relaxing break in country Victoria. We watched the NSW outbreak grow and Victoria’s border with our neighbour hardening by the day. This meant that our trainees for the second semester faced the possibility of not being allowed into Melbourne at all. Most of our new group were able to arrive at St Andrew’s Hall without having to go into quarantine. Two couples came from ‘red zones’ in Sydney and have started the semester confined to their apartments for the first 14 days in quarantine.