Entry 20 – Border crossing – Covid-19 implications - December 2021.
A reasonable amount of information in this edition will be the most uninteresting, lacklustre entry we have had the need to put on record. So why do it. A very good question. Primarily for a reminder, how poorly our governing bodies perform their roles when under pressure during the covid-19 pandemic. In Australia there is a federal government and governments of its individual states and territories. None appeared to be cooperating or attempting to work in with one another during the covid-19 pandemic, at time of this record nearing the end of the two year mark of corona virus turmoil, leaving all Australian citizens frustratingly infuriated. It was the classic “human element,” where powerful individuals were putting their own interests first and not considering the consequences of their actions upon the whole of the Australian community.
We were in Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory with most routes to our home state of South Australia via roads through the states of New South Wales and Victoria.
The reason for being in Canberra other than the need to be with our son and family was the declaration from the South Australian Government to suspend its current border closure policy and permit travel into S.A. from other areas of Australia, naturally with some rules put in place.
There was no simple summary provided with all the legal jargon explaining the new rules. As an individual you had to read the new rules and try to make your own interpretation, including the standard contradictory statements within these rules. This was becoming a standard conversational topic amongst other travellers about various border crossing rules, all expressing their frustration of the contradictory statements within the rules with no one able to declare it was simple.
The new South Australian Government rules had been in place a week and already a couple of things had been changed. We found ourselves re-reading the rules on a daily basis as our travel time got closer, trying to obtain an understanding of its meanings.
The new criteria for entering South Australian, it’s government had introduced a rating system for all Australian local government areas (LGA) primarily based on their vaccination level and secondly current covid-19 positives. Basically, we were in need to plan a travel route through towns with a rating level of very low risk or low risk. All other proposed options were very undesirable.
Normally when travelling this route, we would zig zag all over the country side enjoying its offerings. We were in need to research each town and LGA we might travel through. This was difficult enough but there was also the need to research what LGA the individual towns were located. It was a laborious frustrating task.
After wasting far too much time researching possible options, we chose a shorter route hoping to lessen our exposure to a sudden change with the rating of an LGA along our planned route of about 1,200 kilometres. Some of the LGA we were to travel through had been given a low-risk rating which required for us to submit to a covid-19 test no later than 72 hours prior our arrival at the South Australian border and a required negative result.
Adding to the difficulty of complying with these rules the Victorian Government announced they were no longer going to publish the latest covid-19 hot spots. “What the!”
To work in with the 72-hour time line for a covid-19 test (which just happened to be our first one) we decided to obtain it at the town of Hay in New South Wales. Thus, more research and yes, we could get a test at Hay but we needed to make an appointment and their time slot for tests was 2.45 pm to 3.30 pm Monday to Friday. We made a booking and were advised results would be available in 24 to 48 hours.
With the above put in place we then applied for the required entry permit to enter South Australia.
With all of the above in place we said our good byes to our Canberra family and headed home, minimising our stops along the way, hoping to avoid any new hot spot locations.
Night one we were back at Narrandera for the night. It had been 11 days since we had stayed overnight. We thought a walk along the koala spotting trail would be good to stretch out after a long day’s drive. The first picture shows part of this walk, 11 days prior and the second how it looked 11 days later.
Even the seat Steve was sitting on near the edge of the high flowing Murrumbidgee River was submerged in its depths out of sight.
We remembered the wetlands walk was mostly on a levy bank and deviated to the wetlands trail as nothing else was looking accessible. At least we got to stretch out most of the way before the need to retrace our steps.
It had been wet during our time at Canberra but we hadn’t comprehended the continuing “wet,” ramifications hundreds of kilometres away along the passage of the Murrumbidgee River.
Further down the road we next set camp at Hay also near the Murrumbidgee River a location we stayed about two weeks previously. The water level had risen considerably. Two weeks prior we had been seated at the riverside tables enjoying our surroundings. The same tables, now submerged under the water surface.
We obtained our covid-19 test at Hay in New South Wales and was presented with one sheet of paper with information about a QR code on how to obtain test results. In amongst other information on this sheet was a requirement to self-isolate till you were notified of the result.
A planned evening meal out at a Chinese restaurant and then to watch the sun set from a raised viewing area about 16 kilometres out of town were suddenly abandoned. Then there was our planned travel time over the next 3 days to get to the South Australian border to comply with the South Australian governments covid-19 rules and time lines.
Once again it was reiterated how our state governments impose their own rules without any consideration or cooperation how those rules could be implemented. Ironically if we hadn’t been forced by the South Australian government to obtain a covid-19 test prior to re-enter our home state we would have been free to roam around Hay.
We re-read the covid-19 information sheet a couple of times and slept on its information. By morning our thoughts had diagnosed it as being of general information for people with symptoms and more than likely not specific to our circumstances. We still erred on the side of caution staying isolated.
We did walk along a walking path nearby the Murrumbidgee River and found it to be cut off by rising waters in both directions. Thankfully we managed to walk a couple of kilometres boosting our well-being before returning to our nearby camp.
We had been advised we would get notification of our covid-19 test results in 24 to 48 hours. After 24 hours and no results notification we decided to continue driving towards South Australia.
Late afternoon we propped at the small Victorian town of Walpeup with access to a toilet, shower and power for a nominal fee of $10 a night. We were the only travellers stopped for the night and appreciated access to power where we ran the caravan air-conditioner. The outside temperature had been at 39 C degrees for the last couple of hours.
As per normal when away from the larger populated regions of Australia we were experiencing a lack of good phone reception adding to our anxiety with a lack of response with notification of our covid test results. We found our anxiety levels escalating due primarily to a lack of response with our covid-19 test, a lack of concise information guiding us and a changing covid situation evolving with a new variant discovered. We were on schedule with our estimated eta at the South Australian border and decided to accelerate our estimated arrival time by a day hoping to minimise our increasing anxiety levels and avoid any rule changes that we may incur.
We continued towards the South Australian border and at about half hour prior to the border our phone beeped, notifying of our negative covid-19 results. Hooray. All seemed good with our compliance requirements imposed upon us by the S.A. Government.
We were greeted at the border by a Police Officer who initially had a melt down when we notified them, we were a day ahead of our estimated time of arrival. Once they managed to get past that idea, he went to his tablet to check for our permit and their mood improved when we produced evidence of our negative covid test. We were given the all clear to enter South Australia but were notified of a rule change introduced at 6 pm the previous night where we were now required to submit to another covid-19 test on entry to SA at a testing station down the road a bit before proceeding any further into South Australia.
We submitted to our second covid-19 test in two days and asked the testing officers for guidance with our requirements. At least they were consistent with our N.S.W. experience. They were unable to provide any guidance, having also given up trying to understand any current conditions due to the ongoing endless changes imposed by the decision makers.
It took about another frustrating 48 hours dealing with Government computer systems not coping with the demand expected of it, until we were able to input our required information for another electronic check in form. We were required to report each day for the next 14 days the condition of our health.
Our home was about 300 kilometres from our border entry point. We spent another four nights camped out before we decided it was time to arrive at home.
Our last two nights we spent at our friends Petra and Jeff’s home (about 75 kilometres south of our home) where we thoroughly enjoyed their company and a great well-being boost. It was a wonderful positive feeling to finish our travels for 2021. Ironically the covid-19 pandemic’s created movement restrictions were credited with our crossing paths in 2020 with Petra and Jeff, both genuine beautiful like-minded people.
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