Uñt’ayata: 04.03.2020
Off to Australia!!! That's what I thought in late summer last year when the world was still in order. Great plan - crossing my own borders and all, so I spontaneously booked flights and that was it for now. In the following days, weeks, and months, I stocked up on information and travel gear (yes, sometimes the lovely internet can be quite pushy, I had to scold myself a few times and say 'get yourself together, you can go on vacation without a 200+€ travel bag/shoes/backpack/equipment!') and already booked the first and last few nights in Sydney and Melbourne.
Over time, the situation with all the forest and bush fires in the news became more and more dramatic and I - playing it safe - already panicked a little (again me: 'No, the fire will settle down, it won't turn all of Australia into ashes and ruins when you fly there, etc.') By now, the situation has calmed down a bit. So eventually, full of anticipation, I continued with the planning... looked up possible day trips here - booked domestic flights there... All good...
...until suddenly, the topic of Corona came up. No one could have predicted what kind of impact it would have, but suddenly it was all about CORONA! Okay, I sometimes learn from my experiences and didn't worry too much about it yet. 1 person in Baden-Württemberg, 10-15 in NRW - not thaaat much in relation to the total population. But when the first panic buyers appeared, colleagues talked about people coming back from holidays in South Tyrol, and I even caught a bad cold myself, the resolutions not to panic immediately were gone. Well... I'm not in panic now, I just hope that I'll still be healthy when I go to Australia in 1 1/2 weeks and that travelers from Germany will still be allowed in or something. Wish me luck!
Oh... do you actually want to know how far I've gotten with my travel plans?
I will arrive in Sydney on the 18th of March in the early morning and stay there for 4 nights. Once I arrive, I'll acclimatize a bit and then meet up with Danielle to explore Sydney thoroughly. Then I'll continue with Greyhound buses overnight to Brisbane, where I'll stay with Nicole for a few nights. After that, everything is open until the 12th of April - I'll plan that on the spot. The only important thing is that I'll be in Cairns on the 12th of April because I'll be flying from here to Alice Springs. On the 17th of April, I'll move on to Melbourne, where I'll spend the last few days.
Take care, goodbye until next time!