IT was early March when rumours began to swirl that some guests at a wedding on the south coast had tested positive for coronavirus.
The wedding had been mostly outdoors, with the exception of a short spell inside for speeches.
So when Tighes Hill's Jonathan Bourke and Jane Hunt - who had been at the wedding - came down with very mild symptoms, they got tested for COVID-19 as a precaution.
Neither of them expected to come back positive.
"The only reason I got a swab was because I got a bit of a sore throat, otherwise I would have carried on," Mr Bourke, a nurse who works in an office role, said.
"I wouldn't have done anything different. Jane was the same, she had very mild symptoms.
"We went and got swabbed just on the basis we had been at a setting where people were now showing up as positive.
"But we didn't think we would have it."
They immediately went into self-isolation, waiting two days for their test result.
Close to 40 cases were later linked to the wedding.
"We went into quarantine at our own home, which was tricky with our two young kids, who didn't have symptoms," he said.
"We tried not to share our bugs with them, which is hard because at this age, they are all over you.
"It was a bit of a novelty being in lockdown then, while the rest of the world was carrying on. There weren't any other restrictions then."
At the time, there was a lot of anxiety, and fear of the unknown.
People had seen the news in Italy, where the death count was climbing.
There were some awkward conversations when they tested positive. Some shock. Fear. But mostly, a lot of support.
"We had to tell the school that we had been swabbed and wouldn't get the results for two days, because our kid had been going - and my wife had helped on one of the days there as well," Mr Bourke said.
"They were understandably concerned about potentially having coronavirus introduced to the school, but I think they handled it really well.
"There were some odd comments on social media that I think came out of fear and misunderstanding ... overall, we had support."
There was a degree of concern in their community. Once they went into lockdown, people quickly put two and two together.
"Once people in the neighbourhood knew, I think some were a bit uncomfortable with the idea there was a family with coronavirus in the community," he said.
"We had people come and drop groceries at the door.
"They were out on the pavement, and we stood on the balcony and we were talking to them from a distance, and someone called the police because they thought we were doing the wrong thing.
"This was before the police were asked to be involved in any of the monitoring. It wasn't on their radar yet. No one had broken the law."
Ms Hunt said that moment had been quite upsetting.
She had felt like a prisoner in her own home.
There was also guilt as they waited for their close contacts to get their test results.
NSW Health's "amazing" contact tracers prompted recollections of where they had been, with whom, and for how long.
Ms Hunt had visited family in a small country town while infectious, unknowingly exposing some vulnerable people to the virus.
Thankfully, all close contacts returned negative.
"The most amazing thing was that we managed not to pass it on to anyone - including our children - which was pretty startling, and a huge relief," Ms Hunt said.
"I think our story would have been a lot different if we had passed it on.
"I had inadvertently exposed some vulnerable people to it, and if they had caught it, I think that might have changed how we feel about our experience ... but calling the school and telling them the kids had come back negative was one of the best phone calls I'd made in a while."
Ms Hunt reminded people to be compassionate, and understanding.
"This can happen to anyone," she said.
Mr Bourke had lost his sense of smell with COVID, and it still hasn't returned.
"I didn't realise until there was a moment I was using fertiliser on the garden," he said.
"Jane came out and I said, 'I think I bought the wrong fertiliser, because it doesn't smell'. And she said, 'No, it really stinks out here'.
"It was so bizarre."
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