You'd have to call it a bit of bad timing.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Goulburn woman Maddy Weeks, 23, set off to Melbourne in May, anticipating full-time study in communications at RMIT, and furthering her career in stand-up comedy in the evenings.
But what happened next was anything but funny.
The country had started to open up again from the pandemic-prompted shutdown, and things were looking rosy.
Yet within weeks the city was back in stage three lockdown, and by August 2 it was stage four.
For the girl from Goulburn, trapped in a city full of masked strangers, it's been a bizarre experience.
"It's weird just walking down the street - all the shops have 'closed until further notice' signs in the windows," said Maddy, who lives in Richmond.
"It feels like a ghost town - there are still people around but you can't see their faces because of the masks. You don't know if they're smiling at you.
"I went for a run in the park and the Defence Force was there making sure people weren't loitering - I felt like they were going to make us drop and do push ups."
Maddy knew a few ex-Goulburn people in Melbourne before she moved, but most of them raced for the border when they heard what was coming.
The result has been a lot of time spent indoors, playing trivia games on Zoom and Facetiming her family.
"Lots of people back home have been very supportive - I've gotten a couple of care packages," she said.
"It's hard for them as well, because when I moved we had the assumption we'd be able to visit each other.
"Now I don't even know if I can come home for Christmas."
Maddy said that the Victorian lockdown has been especially hard, because the rest of Australia is practically business as usual.
"In the first lockdown it was all of Australia together, but now it's just Victoria - you look online and see people going to brunch and movies and it's a different world to here," she said.
Most Melbournites have been incredibly patient and cooperative, according to Maddy, with lockdown protestors accounting for the slimmest of minorities.
"The main vibe in Melbourne is that it sucks, but it has to happen," she said.
"I've been to Woolworths a couple of times and seen people yelling at the staff and refusing to wear masks, but that's rare.
"We're so close to finishing this thing so to see the protests is very frustrating.
"A lot of people seem to think Victorians aren't happy with how things are going, but most of us are.
"Only a tiny minority are complaining, and I can understand, but most of us just want this to work."
Maddy has been glued to the daily coronavirus updates, since the restrictions change so often. A treat for residents came on Monday when playgrounds opened again.
"It was so nice to see families at the playgrounds again!" she said.
"An ice cream truck pulled up and everyone ran over (with their masks on). I felt like a kid again. It's the little things."
As Melbourne starts taking its first tentative steps towards easing restrictions, Maddy has asked people at home to be gentle with them.
"You hear in the news that people are impatient for things to open up, but even thought of being in a public place makes me so anxious," she said.
"Melbourne people will take a bit of time - we need the rest of Australia to be patient with us."
