Back to Melbourne

Wednesday, 25.03.2020: Due to the constantly changing situation, we decide to cancel our trip and drive to Melbourne, approximately 1,600 km and through Sydney. We leave the caravan park in Byron Bay and head south, stopping for lunch in Coffs Harbour with a fish and meat burger and a super delicious dessert, homemade ice cream. By now, all restaurants are closed and you can only buy take away. On the highway, there were large billboards with the notice that the border to Queensland will close at midnight. We spend the night at a caravan park in Port Macquarie and go shopping again. It is raining heavily all night.

Thursday, 26.03.2020: From Port Macquarie through Sydney, it takes us three hours, and we continue without a stop to Yass. Here we wanted to stay at a caravan park on the Yass River and find out that the government has closed all camping sites and imposed hefty fines for violations. We are a bit shocked and reluctantly find a hotel because we have been on the road for too long.

Friday, 27.03.2020: We leave early, want to continue, don't know at the moment if the border to Victoria will also close. At the same time, Stephanie books a flight back home for us from Germany. The only airline that still flies to Germany without transit restrictions is Qatar Airways. Even the German government mentions the possibility on their homepage. So far, there is no repatriation action for Germans in Australia. Since prices are rising rapidly, we need several attempts and then have a flight for 08.04.2020 from Melbourne via Doha to Munich.

We arrive in Melbourne early in the afternoon. We are here with Sten, the son of our friends Bianca and Ralf, and his friend Paul, and we are looking forward to meeting them. We book a room in the same hotel and have to self-isolate. This means no contact with others, always at least 1.5 m distance, no room service, and the like. However, we are allowed to leave the hotel and in the evening, we all take a small walk into the city together.

Saturday, 28.03.2020: Today, we are closing our travel blog and would like to thank everyone who has followed our trip and shown interest in our adventure. It's a shame it is ending like this. Stay healthy and we look forward to seeing you again.