Well….. 2020 and 2021 didn’t go to plan!
We had booked a cruise from Alaska to Singapore through Japan in September 2020 – Radiance. But the ship was deployed and no longer available.
So we rebooked, for another ship in August 2020 – Serenade, back through the Pacific.
But COVID 19 stopped that. We rebooked the same ship for August 2021 – Radiance. Then, can you believe it? The ship was redeployed….so we changed to another ship – Serenade.
But COVID remained. It too was cancelled as the Canadian government declared “No Cruise Ships” into Canada in 2021. And the Australian Govt was saying no overseas travel till 2022 at best, unless things changed rapidly.
We had the option of moving it to 2022 – or cancelling.
So ‘Plan E’ came into effect. Domestic travel – to amazing places.
Where would you like to go? I asked Andy and Glennah.
“Let’s do the top of Australia”.
“Driving”.
“Let’s visit Lindy in Alice Springs, then head to Perth after Broome”.
“Let’s drive all the way around to Alison’s in Perth”.
And so the “WA- NT Trip” was planned.
We wanted a holiday.
We needed a holiday.
We really wanted a holiday.
WA NT – West Australia and Northern Territory!
6500ks (by the map so who knows how far by the speedo). Five and a half weeks. Hitting many of the ‘hot spots’.
The challenge of booking Australia’s busiest tourist destination, during peak time, for July of the same year, began, and it was already February.
Only a few places laughed at me when I asked about vacancies. Fitting things in did cause a few problems, hiccups and changes. I started with what I thought would be hardest place to book and worked from there. And was able to get a booking for two nights at the Bungle Bungles, in mid July, so the trip formed around that.
It was a juggling act, but we got there. We did it! Accommodation, cars, tours – All booked! Yay.
Stop One
Alice Springs with Lindy.
The plan was to fly into Alice and arrive around lunchtime. Flights were booked – and Qantas kept changing things. It changed to mid afternoon with a long break in Adelaide.
Collect our Pajero (or similar) and begin the adventure.
BUT …… Two weeks out COVID started flaring again in Victoria and then NSW. On 20 June, WA Premier, Mark McGowan declared that anyone from NSW had to get tested on arrival and quarantine until the results came in – two to three days! At least there is a testing facility in Kununurra.
Our original plan was to have four lovely nights with Lindy and Ashley in Alice, then spend 4 days driving to Kununurra. The list of sites to see on the way was extensive. Ryans Well, Wycliff Well (UFO capital of Australia), Karlu Karlu, Kunjarra, Daly Waters, and more.
So many amazing things to see on the way but the real adventure was to begin in Western Australia.
So, many hours were spent that night trying to re-gig the trip to get us to Kununurra with time to quarantine then get on with the trip as planned. That included Andy and Glennah coming to Canberra 10 days early, yo get out of NSW and into safe state ACT.
Surprisingly I was able to get accomodation in Kununurra – the last two rooms in the district. To reduce Alice to three nights, the trip to three big days, rather than four leisurely days, and have two days in Kununurra to relax, AKA self isolate for 2 -3 days while waiting for the results of our COVID tests, that we will take as we arrive in town.
Over the next nervous 18 days we watched the COVID clusters spread. Melbourne was really slowing down but the Sydney Cluster was growing daily.
WA – closed to Red and Orange zones.
Queensland – closed to all of Sydney.
Victoria – was closed to Sydney.
Then a brain wave. Let’s not spend those 10 days in Canberra. Let’s leave early. And fly directly to Darwin to save going through any other states.
Flight were booked, and changed, for the 27th June.
The bookings were all made with the changes.
All three of us had our second Astra Zeneca vaccinations. Yay. All we could do was wait.
The next few days were spent sweating over what was happening around the country.
The “Bondi Cluster” hit triple figures. Sydney, central coast, Blue Mountains and Wollongong went into hard lockdown lockdown.
Perth got a Positive case. She had been to a few schools, Ikea and more. So they went into lockdown.
A gold miner came out of quarantine in Brisbane and went to his mine in the Tanimi Desert. Just as that roster of people flew out, he tested positive. So Darwin went into a 48 hour hard lockdown.
We got an SMS for WA police. We were still OK if we hadn’t been there.
Let’s hope the 48 hr lockdown does the trick.
Sunday.
I have never been so nervous for a flight. We were all packed and ready. “Why didn’t I book the day ahead?” What a fool.
Our Uber XL did fit us and our massive amounts of gear in. I mean everyone takes a fridge when they travel don’t they?
And off we set.
Over the last few days I had twitched every time an SMS or email tones went on the phone. “What was changing now?”
I actually had butterflies in the stomach as we drove out to the airport. Over the few hours at the airport many things happened……
….SA closed the borders…
….Canberra went to face masks when out of the house….
….Perth went into lockdown….
…..Panic shopping began again. People are plain stupid.
But still the board showed our flight was on time.
At the gate there was a crowd of police waiting for the incoming flight.
They check ID. Matched photos and checked border passes. Some people were taken off to the side.
And then on we went. Only us three at the front of the plane. Private toilet and private concierge AKA flight attendant.
In the back of the plane were about 20 others.
So we were spoilt. She made us have two dinner each so we could pick the best from each.
We were in the air. Our adventure had begun. It may not be the adventure we had planned. But it would be an adventure. We would make lemonade. We would use those lemons we were being dealt.
As we landed they gave the standard “you may turn your phones on.” And did that phone beep.
Message from NT Govt. “You are now in lockdown, only leave for ‘The 5 reasons”.
Then a message from WA Govt. “Go away, you are not welcome here” Or words to that effect. Unless we wanted to do 14 nights hotel quarantine. At one of the most expensive places in Australia.
Next plan. We would still go to Alice to visit Lindy then go home.
A holiday starting with a compulsory stay at home. Watch netflix and eat room service wasn’t going to be too bad. Was it?
Our hotel was lovely. And we all slept well.
Monday 28th June
I was able to go out on a supply run. Woolies and BWS close by. The Darwin lockdown is “out of the house for the FIVE REASONS”. Shopping is OK, as in exercise in the 5 k radius.
Darwin then extended the lockdown for another three days. We were here till Friday.
Flights changed, hotel re booked. I was able to book a large 2 bedroom suite for the extra days – Kitchen, balcony, Lounge room. Very flash. And then convinced them to switch our next two nights of the original booking to that room as well. Much nicer.
Andy and Glennah were very happy. Sitting on the deck, looking at the ocean, Through the filtered views. They don’t mind where they are! They were on holidays.
The 5k zone.
When I went to do a real grocery shop…… the shelves were a bit different to what they had been earlier.
But we did have “Sun Downers” on the deck. Every day.
I got to go shopping every day and to go for my walk every day. I got to see Darwin in one hour chunks. All within the 5k radius but I did see lots. And let me tell anyone from down south who complains about wearing a mask….
“Try it in the Darwin humidity”. You can barely breath in Darwin as it is. Add a mask! Not fun.
Then Alice went into lockdown. So we changed plans again and tucked tail and ran home – after we were allowed to leave that was.
We did have to apply for permits to go back to Canberra. I was fine but Andy and Glennah could only get a 20 minute permit. They had to be picked up at the airport and had 20 minutes to get to NSW. Couldn’t even take them home in a hired car.
So The Mac’s had to drive up for the coast and take them home. We then had 7 day isolation “stay at home” rules on us.
But at least the flight home was lovely.
Same plane and same flight steward who looked after us so well.
It wasn’t the trip we planned. BUT IT WAS A TRIP.
And then the planning had to begin again for “West Australia 2022”. But not until the cancellation process was done.
You know what is harder than planning a big trip? Cancelling it. Chasing refunds and vouchers etc.
But must say, all the places and activities we booked were fantastic. Even the ‘Non-refundable’ ones.
And the “WA-NT 2021” trip was reborn as three seperate trips.
March 2022 Raina to Alice and Uluru.
May 2022 Raina to Kununurra and
July 2022 Raina, Andy and Glennah to the West. Broome to Perth.
COVID continued to ‘make life difficult. More lock downs. More border closures. In fact it wasn’t until the last Feb 2022 that the WA premier announced that the borders would be opening soon to triple vaxxed people.
FINGERS CROSSED.
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