In transit

It has been a while since I’ve posted and that is for a couple of reasons, nearly all related to COVID. But in a nutshell, I’ve been and am still on the move between the Middle East and Australia. Right now, I’m in hotel quarantine in Brisbane.

So what was it like to travel into Australia during this thing called COVID?

The Great Unknown

The hardest part of being overseas and wanting to get back to Australia is not knowing if you can get back. Now that seems like a weird thing to say but there is absolutely no certainty in air travel when it comes to Australia at the moment.

Even if you have the money to afford the inflated airfare, you will still find yourself holding your breath for a couple of months and dreading every email or text message that comes from your airline. Because the next message could be the one telling you that you’ve been “bumped”.

Limited quarantine places with no booking system means that your plans are always at the mercy of unknown fluctuations in bookings, pricing and local outbreaks.

This is the biggest reason why I haven’t seen my family in over a year. And that fact has been the biggest reason why I decided to move back to Australia. While I was confident that my government-purchased flight with the national carrier would get me home, there was quite a bit of negotiation on the timing and the black cloud hanging over my head didn’t lift until I was checked in and holding a boarding pass on the happy side of immigration at the airport.

The Airport Environment

The airport I departed from didn’t really close down during the pandemic. As a transit hub, the national carrier kept a lot of people moving during the pandemic. Even before COVID, the terminal was always subject to big peak and trough swings. At my departure time, I wouldn’t have expected much foot traffic. But it was noticeable in the check in area and through immigration/security.

The airport operator has made pretty good attempts at establishing social distancing in seating areas but it seems that people haven’t necessarily taken to queuing and waiting around with the same consideration. Maybe being back in Australia, where we enjoy a larger personal space bubble, might bring some relief there.

Interestingly, the airport did seem more active than the rest of the country. Seating in food courts and children’s playgrounds, for example, were still closed when I left and entry into some types of businesses required you to confirm your vaccination status.

The Flight

I was surprised by the number of people on my flight. I expected around 50 but there were much more because the flight continued on to Auckland after its stop in Brisbane. Initially, I was devastated because I was hoping for some room to stretch out but I was seated next to a couple with a very small child.

While I was jealously looking around at other people in three or four seat sections on their own, my seat mates spied another open section and moved. Yay! A four seat section to myself!

I got plenty of sleep and good news, I didn’t suffocate or suffer brain damage due to wearing a mask the whole time. Generally, the flight was uneventful.

The Arrival Experience

This is where things got really different. Well, immigration was pretty much the same (although no e-gates) and since it took a long time, my bags were already on the carousel. The slow progress through immigration made biosecurity a breeze and that’s when the police got involved.

First up, the Queensland Police asked for my travel declaration. I handed it over but it was the wrong one. There was another, poorly advertised, declaration that I needed to complete. I was helped to the side and directed to a website. After a couple of minutes, I had a new QR code and I was on my way…to the next police officer.

The process generally went hotel allocation, hotel confirmation, bus allocation, waiting for bus, loading on to bus, driving to hotel, checking in to hotel and then going up to my room. State police, federal police and some junior members of the defence force where on hand to help out and they were all quite friendly and efficient.

It took about three hours to get from aircraft to hotel room.

Cell Block 6

And for 9 days now, I’ve been secure in a nice hotel room in the Brisbane city centre. Not much of a view, no balcony, no opening window and not much exercise. I did set a challenge of doing 100 push ups a day though and I’m still on track.

Food comes on time. It’s edible. And I’ve got some work to do. So, I’m not climbing the walls yet.

The best thing is that my family are close and the clock is seriously ticking down to when I get to see them.