Ex-Kelso High boy Stewart has got an office with a view

And why?

"There needed to be someone here in charge," he says.

Mr Maclennan - who went to school at Wattle Flat and Kelso High before leaving Bathurst - works in one of the world's largest gold and copper mines.

There were other Australians working at the mine, high up in the mountains in the Indonesian province, but they came to the conclusion, one by one, that enough was enough.

Mr Maclennan, 42, has stayed, and is working with Indonesian crews to keep the diesel engines running.

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Divorced and with two children, 13 and 6, in Australia, he says remaining at the site makes sense because he doesn't have a base in his home country.

"I can't really keep a home going in Australia. It's just too expensive."

He now has an Indonesian wife, but he can't see her either.

She has to remain with her parents, not far from Jakarta, and travelling to be with her is now impossible because there are no internal flights in the country.

Mr Maclennan says visitors "freak out" when he takes them to the bottom of the mine, where turning around is only just possible.

"They feel the walls closing in on them. It is pretty frightening, but I've been doing this for years now, and I know I'm safe."

Back in the days before COVID-19, he used to work a seven-week "swing" at the mine, then fly back to Australia for two weeks.

He thinks it will be many months before he can go anywhere other than to his daily work and home again.

There is a swimming pool in the town where he lives, but it's closed too.

"I just have to work out at home. There's no gym, no pool, just nowhere to go."

So how is he coping with the isolation?

"There's the internet; that's my lifeline. Sometimes it's not too good, but most days it's up and running.

"I keep in touch with the real world in that way, and then I have my job, which I really enjoy. Apart from that - well, I think routine is important.

"I know I have to do all those things that keep you healthy and happy - work, exercise, contact with others.

"I might even have time to read a book. I've got lots of them, but I haven't had time to read, up 'til now."

Old cars are a passion for Mr Maclennan.

He's the owner of a Caddie, but at the moment it lives with a friend in Australia.

"Searching for car parts on the internet is pretty time-consuming," he said.

Music on the internet is another of his passions.

Mr Maclennan recently visited Bathurst to see his family.

But he knows it will be a long time before he's back.