Gold Coast man Jordan Bond spends 30th birthday in mandatory quarantine

Thursday was Jordan Bond’s 30th birthday. The only trouble was he was stuck in quarantine at the Voco Hotel. But that wasn’t going to stop his creative family.

HE was so close, and yet so far.

After living overseas for more than a decade all Jordan Bond wanted for his 30th birthday was to spend it with his family.

Instead he had to celebrate from a distance, waving to them from his window while in mandatory quarantine at the Surfers Paradise Voco hotel.

One of the twenty travellers to have landed in Brisbane from Doha last Tuesday, Mr Bond, who celebrated his birthday on Thursday, was among the very first to have been subject to the strict new coronavirus isolation measures put in place by the federal government just days earlier.

The rule required all new international arrivals to stay in isolation in specially chosen ‘quarantine hotels’ in Brisbane or on the Gold Coast for a total of 14 days.

The Bond family John, Bernie, and Dylan outside Voco where brother Jordan was celebrating his 30th birthday. Picture: Tertius Pickard.

Despite the quarantine, his Miami family managed to surprise him with a banner and balloons from the street.

“So close yet so far – but it is all good though,” Jordan told the Bulletin.

Even after spending more than a week restricted to his room, with supervised breaks for exercise, Mr Bond remained upbeat about the situation.

He even decorated his room with fairy lights given to him by his family, who have dubbed his time at the Voco his “4 star birthday present from Scomo.”

After living in the UK working as a video director and producer for MTV, Mr Bond had booked a round trip from the UK to Spain, then Australia and back for April.

“It was cancelled about six weeks ago so I was going to just stay in Spain, but as more and more time that passed, the more it became apparent that this was going to be a lot longer than we first assumed,” he said.

“So I booked a flight on that Saturday night and departed 48 hours later.

“It was a mad rush at the end but it feels good to be back, even though I am locked up away from everyone.

“I am conscious of overeating as a result of boredom but I think a birthday pizza is on the cards tonight.”

Jordan Bond watches his family from his Voco hotel room. Picture: Tertius Pickard.

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Mr Bond counts himself lucky to have been allowed stay in a Gold Coast hotel instead of one in Brisbane, so he can see his family daily.

His younger brother Dylan and parents John and Bernie have spent every night on the street near the hotel talking to Jordan online and waving to him.

“Our family is pretty creative and fun so every day they give him a program to do, like a workout program in the morning via Zoom,” Dylan said.

“We send him some packages with things to do. It gets checked by the police, sanitised and then given to him.

“I think he has rediscovered his love for a Pokemon game we had as a kid.

“Tonight he was joined by many of his friends and family via Zoom to celebrate his 30th in quarantine.”

Jordan and his family have complimented the staff at the hotel and QPS for how well they have treated him.

“The Voco and the QPS have been compassionate and empathetic towards every guest from what we can see, and despite the situation are managing it with incredible respect to the law and patrons in-house,” Dylan said.