The Year that was 2021!
It's been an interesting year to say the least.
Where to start????
Where else but with Covid-19 (the Pandamic). It's been controlling our lives for the past 20 months, and not in a good way, as we all know. We kept control here in Australia through the worst of it, but there's been a restriction on travel during that time. Even going interstate has been extremely stressful with lockdowns, the fear of being locked out from your home state, the threat of catching "Corona" or "Rona" (as we like to call it), quarantine, self-isolation, the list goes on...........
New South Wales and Victorian residents, once they hit 90% double vaccinations, were able to travel overseas before they could travel interstate to states like Tasmania, Queensland and Western Australia. Travelling to Western Australia in particular has been fraught with difficulty. I won't even suggest my clients travel there at this stage because of the difficulties entering the state. It's been very difficult to travel to WA throughout the entire time that the Pandemic has been going.
As each state has reached 80% double vaccinations, they have opened up to the other states, however each state has had differing requirements to enter their particular state. Here in Queensland, if you're travelling from an interstate Hotspot, you have to have a negative result from a PCR test within 72 hours of travelling to this state, then test again here on Day 5 and have a negative result. However, the Day 5 test has now been dropped and the PCR Test will be dropped from the 1st January. However, you have to declare on your entry form that you have a negative result to a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT). Keeping up with what is going on has been an absolute nightmare! Further changes have come through yesterday.
Of course, the Omicron variant has really "thrown a spanner in the works!" Hence part of the reason for the rapid changes in testing protocols everywhere.
Back to travel in 2021. Did you travel anywhere in 2021???
I was fortunate enough to travel to Tasmania in May with my elderly mother and adult daughter. My daughter was a great asset in helping out with my mum who is somewhat mobility challenged. We had a really lovely time. It was probably a bit too "packed" for my mum, as she was tired toward the end of the trip. We didn't get to do everything that I had planned, and due to that, and so many more things to see and do, I plan to go back either in 2022 or 2023, this time with my husband (hopefully).
Tasmania is a fantastic place to visit. The roads are often narrow and winding and it takes a lot longer to get anywhere than you would expect. Starting in Hobart, check out the views from Mount Wellington/ Kunanyi as they are absolutely spectacular, but take a jumper or jacket with you. Enjoy a day or two at the historic site of Port Arthur (make sure you do the walking tour first), then check out the historic buildings and do a cruise on the harbour (included in entry). Check out the historic convict towns of Ross and Campbell Town on the way to the beautiful east coast and the Freycinet National Park. We were supposed to do the Wineglass Bay cruise, but bad weather caused it to be cancelled. We stayed at Bicheno which was a little cheaper than around Freycinet, and I had the most delicious seafood pasta at Food and Brew. Bicheno also has the most awesome General Store with absolutely everything you might need (or not) and the Bicheno Blowhole. Binalong Bay is really beautiful and is at the start of the Bay of Fires (make sure you eat in St Helens first).
Views from Mt Wellington Observation Shelter Port Arthur Historic Site
Bicheno Blowhole The Hazards
Off to Launceston and surrounds next. Make sure you go to Bridestowe Lavender Farm and try their Lavender tea and scones (the cat will guide you to where you have to go). We also did a day trip up the west side of the Tamar River, visiting the Beaconsfield Mine Disaster site and also Platypus House, seeing both Platypus and Echidnas being fed. We then crossed over on the historic Batman Bridge to the east side of the river and travelled up to Low Head and visited the Low Head Pilot Station Maritime Museum. The museum had a lot of artifacts and displays from the local area and was well worth the entry price. On our way out of Launceston we visited the convict sites of Woolmers Estate and Brickendon Estate (I have convict heritage in Tassie). Don't forget to visit the town of Penguin on the way to Burnie, even the bins are penguins. Burnie is apparently the place to see the Little Penguins (we didn't get to see them).
Bridestow Lavender Farm Platypus House
Penguin Low Head Pilot Station Maritime Museum
Woolmers Estate Brickendon Estate
Our next stop was Cradle Mountain, and I absolutely loved it. You catch a bus from the National Parks Visitors Centre. There is some commentary and the drive is very narrow and winding. They let you know what you can see at each stop before you get there. Our first stop was Dove Lake where you can take the 5.7km loop circuit around the lake. Take the path to the right to see the boatshed that's in all the photos (it's a 10 minute or so walk to there). Due to Mum's mobility issues we did a 5 minute walk, got the photos of the lake and the mountain and got back on the bus. Our next stop on the bus was Ronny Creek. Here we got to see a mother and baby wombat. So cute! Our stay that night was at the Cradle Mountain Hotel. It's a great place to stay and the food is awesome.
Dove Lake and Cradle Mountain Mother wombat and joey at Ronny Creek Heavy frost at Cradle Mountain Hotel
Off to our last place to visit, Strahan. The roads are very narrow and winding getting to and from Strahan. We detoured via Zeehan to see the West Coast Heritage Centre. Definitely worth a visit. There are so many displays, even a mock-up of an underground mine. Strahan (small town) sits on Long Bay which goes into Macquarie Harbour which is six times bigger than Sydney Harbour. A must do here is the Gordon River Cruise. We didn't get to do this one either, but I'm told it's absolutely worth doing. The cruise includes a buffet lunch, a visit to Sarah Island, sailing on Macquarie Harbour and the Gordon River, seeing the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.
View of Long Bay from Strahan Village Hilltop Hamer's Bar & Bistro
On the way back to Hobart we stopped at Queenstown the gateway to the West Coast. The road between Strahan and Queenstown has 99 bends. It's another interesting Tassie road. Queenstown has a rich and rugged mining history, a unique 'moonscape' and loads of wild west appeal. On the way out of town towards Hobart make sure you visit Iron Blow Lookout, the first copper mine on Mount Lyell. Our final stop-off was at Lake St Clair. What a gorgeous spot. The Overland Track finishes here. It starts at Ronny Creek at Cradle Mountain and the track takes 5 days to walk. There's a nice restaurant here and a lodge/ guest house with great views over the lake.
Lake St ClairL
Iron Blow Lookout Start/ Finish Overland Track at Lake St Clair
Then it was back to Hobart for the night and the flight home the next day. We did our trip in May over 11 nights/ 12 days. You definitely need at least two weeks, and three weeks would be much better. The weather was nice for most of our trip and we wore T-shirt, jacket and jeans, ditching the jacket for most of the time during the middle of the day.
It was back to the mundane for most of the year. A few lockdowns and wearing of masks for most of the time after July. Each lockdown caused a stall in our family sign business for a few weeks each time. My travel business however, has suffered terribly. It's been difficult to stay positive over the whole Covid period. Cruising in particular, is just not happening due to government restrictions and the lockdowns. Some small boat, luxury cruising has been happening, but the general public can't afford this. I had two sets of clients travel to Tasmania, one couple in July and another couple in September. Both had an excellent time, although both times there were lockdowns in place in Queensland up to a week before, causing a lot of stress and anxiety.
I travelled again in October, with my husband and both adult kids this time, to Airlie Beach in North Queensland. We were going to cancel but my husband became ill in September from the stresses that Covid and what's happened in 2021 have heaped upon him with our sign business, so we decided we'd go anyway as we all needed a total relax. It was also our 38th wedding anniversary in the week that we spent at Mandalay and we usually try and get away at that time each year. So off we went, it was two or three hours further away than what I'd realised, 13 hours driving time but with lots of roadworks, was way more. It was well worth the long drive and I was able to re-live some trips north in my younger years, both with my family and then my husband. We stayed in a Air BnB house that was of Balinese design, in the area called Mandalay. The house had air conditioning in the bedrooms, which were in a separate wing joined to the living area by a timber walkway and a barbecue and outdoor area. In the living area there was no aircon, however you would open up the bifold doors on the bay side (looking over Pioneer Bay) and a lovely breeze would come through. However, there was a bit of a heatwave happening when we arrived and it was very warm and humid. The house had a magnesium pool, timber decking and tropical gardens made it feel very resort-like. It was the most relaxing week that I have spent anywhere, and it was too warm to do very much. We went into town a couple of times, but it was quite hot when you couldn't get the sea breeze. We couldn't afford to do any island cruises or other attractions, so made the most of just relaxing.
Various views over Pioneer Bay from house in Mandalay - Airlie Beach
For the last couple of months I've been doing heaps of travel webinars, trying to learn as much as I can, while I can. I've learnt so many things about a variety of places. I've also been able to win some great prizes from various tourism providers, ranging from face masks, drink bottles to a return flight to New Zealand (thanks to Tourism New Zealand) and some ground prizes in New Zealand. I feel very blessed to be able to at least have these, as the travel business has been very quiet.
Late November/ early December, I spent a few weeks helping a friend and client to get his fiancee out from the Philippines to Australia. The initial consult was 3 or 4 months ago. At that stage they were applying for exemptions, but were unable to get one. Once they found that the visa rules had changed, allowing the fiancee to travel from the Philippines to Australia under the visa that she had, we set the wheels in motion, both for the paperwork required in the Philippines and what was needed for Australia.
We booked the flight for the 4th December, then that night, the Prime Minister announced that visa holders were put back until after the 15th December due to the emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19. After much scrabbling and negotiations with airlines we finally got the airfare changed to the 19th December, with only a reticket fee instead of the extra $751 that the airline wanted to charge initially. It took a week to sort that out. Anyway, my client (fiancee) arrived in Brisbane on the 20th via Sydney and then went into hotel quarantine for 2 weeks. I'm pleased to say she is now out of hotel quarantine and enjoying her freedom here in Brisbane.
Thank you to my family in particular for their support this year. I wouldn't have made it through without the support of my friends and family. We all need a support network to help us through these difficult times. To the support staff at Your Travel and Cruise, thank you. Without you I wouldn't be keeping on in the travel industry. I've found everyone in the travel industry very supportive of each other.
I look forward to the travel industry opening up and to having clients travelling all over the world. Move over 2021 and let's hope 2022 is much better.
If anyone is travelling anywhere, be it within their own state, interstate, nationally or overseas. I'm here, so please give me a call or email me regarding any of your travel queries.
Have a great 2022 everyone.
Cathy Drew
Email: travel@inspiration4travel.com.au
www.inspiration4travel.com.au