New Zealand

It seems that anything like “normal” travel to New Zealand is a long way off.    Apparently, only New Zealanders will be able to travel quarantine-free to New Zealand until the end of April (from Australia in mid-January, and from the rest of the world from mid-February).  And even then the present plan seems to be that, even when quarantine is dropped for non-New Zealanders at the end of April,  there will continue to be a 7-day “isolate at home period” for an indefinite time – potentially many months.

Although the announcement refers to “expert advice”, it’s not clear how the dates have been chosen.   They seem to be quite arbitrary and not related to the NZ vaccination rate (unlike Australia) which seems to be progressing quite well.    

It’s hardly good news for Air New Zealand, which is reported to have been less than enthusiastic about the delay in resuming “normality”.   Presumably the airline is hopeful that the self-isolation requirement on arrival will be reduced or dropped.   It’s hard to see any volume of tourism re-starting while this requirement is in place.    And as for cruises….!

New Zealanders can, in the meantime, come to Australia.

All this doesn’t really concern us.    Perhaps we might have thought of New Zealand as a destination if a genuine “bubble’ had been reinstated, but in fact it now looks as though it will be one of the more problematic countries to visit at any time in the foreseeable future.   But if they’re happy to live in their own little world, so be it.

Covid

It seems that Covid has hit one small business in our area.   I’m not sure what the story is.  Personally, I’m much more worried about the disruption to my life that apparently will inevitably occur (especially if I’m travelling) if I develop covid, than I am about the illness itself.  Is it just me?

Covid (2)

Our recent experience with covid testing made me think about some of the issues involved.   For the sake of the record, our tests came back negative (next morning, after being tested in the afternoon).

I realise that others have been tested many times, whereas this was the first time for me.

I see that the rules in NSW are to be relaxed, but check in will still be needed at pubs, so our issue as a result of checking in at the Coogee Bay Hotel would still have occurred under the new rues.

But, as I’ve already mentioned, what’s the point of sending a text message informing us that we were a “casual contact” 10 days before?   This really have would led to a big “catch up” had we actually contracted covid.    Would it not have been better to contact us more quickly and suggest we self-test?   In fact I self-tested (negative) before going for the PCR test.

Another issue is, logging in with a QR code really is just a form of “self-incrimination”.  Yes, we have a responsibility to society, but I’ve been left thinking, perhaps we ought to treat the symptoms of covid rather than endure all the isolation issues that now arise.    With vaccinations, perhaps that’s where we’re getting to?

In the meantime, while the 10 days lapse raised many issues, in one way it worked greatly in our favour.   We were able to work through the implications of being a “casual contact” from home, and didn’t have to worry about getting cleared to take a flight and to isolate in a hotel room.

This has really led us to reflect on the downside of travel in the present environment.   Our present inclination is to postpone the idea of travel, especially overseas but possibly even interstate, until the “downside” of being diagnosed with covid is more bearable.   The emergence of a new variant (news of which arrived after I first composed this post) certainly reinforces these feelings.

Covid

I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later, but we got a text message stating that we’d been to a venue also attended by someone had tested positive to covid, and that accordingly we were “casual contacts”.     We were told to have a test and instructed to self-isolate until we got a result.

All very well, except that (a) the venue was the Coogee Bay Hotel on a Saturday evening, when there would have been hundreds of people present; and (b) we got the message exactly 10 days after we’d been to the venue!

During the intervening 10 days, we were out and about around Sydney, on a plane to Melbourne, on a couple of Uber rides and then out and about around Melbourne!

Nevertheless we dutifully headed off for our test.  I ought to have checked wait times on the website before leaving, because at the two testing centres in our part of the city, the queues were horrendous.  We gave up.   Later in the day, the Showgrounds testing centre was showing “no wait time”, so we set out across the city, and, for once, the website was correct:   there was indeed no queue (just multiple layers of “bureaucracy”).

At the time of posting, we’re waiting for our results.  Time will tell!

After lockdown

Like many others, I had some pent-up shopping requirements that had built up during the recent lock-down.    Top of the list was a new mobile phone.

Seemingly it’s inevitable that we have to update our mobile phones sooner or later, and so it was that I was in the market for a new one. I had done a reasonable amount of research during lockdown as to  what model would be suitable, but didn’t want to commit until I could “touch and feel” the various short-listed options.

Big queues at the checkout

So I headed to Southland to have a look around.  There were crowds, but generally things weren’t too congested.  The exception was at the checkouts at some of the stores.   In particular, the queues to pay at K-mart were stupendous.    People must have run out of socks and basics during the lockdown and needed to stock up!   I decided that my need for this type of item could wait. 

I did buy a new phone, however (obviously not at K-mart);  more on that soon.

Travel post pandemic – and travel agents

I see that the travel agents are hopeful that travel post-pandemic will mean more business for them, given that most travel will be more complex, as there are so many extra issues that will have to be considered.  These include matters such as which countries can be visited,  requirements for the need for covid tests (when and what type), procedures at transit stops and probably much more.

I’ve  already encountered these issues when looking into the possibility of a short trip to a single overseas destination.   A big part of the problem is that the information on the web often isn’t up-to-date, or, if it is, the information is to change in the near future.   In other words, there have been announcements about what changes are proposed, but the official sites don’t reflect these proposed changes so you can’t be sure of the details.  Even the sites that refer to recent developments sometimes contain links to information that’s about to be outdated.  The lack of “certainty”, even from official government sites,  is very troubling.

In the meantime, the issue is, how many travel agents will remain?   Around here, a number of retail travel agents closed down during the pandemic, leaving empty shop fronts.  Several others have “down-sized”, moving to sites with less exposure (and presumably cheaper rent).

The City, post lockdown

I headed into the city for lunch this week. “Non-essential” retail isn’t yet open, so perhaps it’s not surprising that things were subdued, to put it mildly.

The train was very quiet

Retail isn’t open yet

A number of vacancies, so some retail won’t be returning

Another vacant shop

Some outdoor dining in Degraves Street, but quiet just the same

… but retail re-opens soon.

“Freedom” Friday (2)

Well, it’s a new world, isn’t it?    The rules this time are different to the rules at previous times.    What’s this about “outdoor trading” for retail?    We’re left with a feeling of being micro-managed.   No wonder people give up on trying to understand the details of each iteration.

Ready for outdoor dining!

The cafe has outdoor tables too – where I had my first post-lockdown 6 sit-down coffee on Friday morning

Queues to get a haircut

Restaurants open!

“Freedom” Friday

Today has been billed by the media as “Freedom Friday”.    I suppose we’re now under less restrictions, in that there’s limited dining at cafes and the curfew has gone.    I’m nor sure what the curfew achieved, except to weigh heavily on some of us (including me).

But we still can’t go into a “non-essential” retailer or travel to the regions or to NSW.    I acknowledge that the position about going to Sydney is a decision for the NSW government, which, in spite of the hype about allowing international travellers to arrive without quarantine from 1 November, still hasn’t specifically stated that Victorians will be afforded the same ability.  Perhaps we will?  We must wait!

In the meantime, we’re going out to dinner this evening.

Overseas travel post Covid

We’re being told that overseas travel is back on the agenda, and (as I’ve mentioned) in fact I know of one person who has in fact booked to travel overseas in December. In this case, there are family issues involved.

The announcement that in NSW inbound Australian travellers from overseas won’t require to quarantine if they’re vaccinated is another encouraging sign. 

Of course, I’ve been looking at the potential for leisure travel.     For example, Fiji is setting out plans to open up to tourists.     They’ve said that a number of tests would be involved, which would add to the cost, but would perhaps be “manageable”.     Hopefully the risk that the rules might change while away is also “manageable”, that is, not too great.   But thinking about it, the main issue that would concern me is, what would happen if, having arrived at your destination, you caught covid?    Seemingly, all your travel plans would be disrupted and you’d be cast into quarantine.  What happens if only one of us catches it?     Or, perhaps only slightly less concerning, what happens if the resort you’re at becomes a “hot spot”?

It probably makes sense to confine early trips to places like Fiji, where our movement would be relatively limited, rather than (for example) to Europe where we would be much more integrated into daily life.   But we keep hearing about the need for students, skilled migrants and the like to come to Australia, so perhaps leisure travel isn’t quite on the agenda yet.  

On the other hand, if flights to Fiji are actually being scheduled, perhaps the day isn’t too far away…..? 

EDIT – here’s an article about what happens if we get covid while overseas.