Raewyn's Story

04/02/23 • 26 min

A Kiwi, but now back in New Zealand, Raewyn was living in Victoria with her husband when the pandemic was declared. With most of her family in New Zealand, including parents and children, being able to leave Australia quickly was a concern. Towards the end of 2020, and between work contracts, Raewyn decided to return to New Zealand, but because of the flight caps, she didn't get there until May 2021. Worried that Australia would close its borders to New Zealand – she felt she had no choice but to go and she ended up being stuck for eight months. To return to Victoria, she flew into Brisbane where she was forced into hotel quarantine. This is Raewyn's story.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

Daniel's Story

With business interests that takes him all over the world, Daniel found himself stuck in Zambia in August 2021, trying to get back home to Perth, Western Australia. Unfortunately for him, he was impacted by not only Australia's international flights caps, but also the "South African" variant that was scaring governments and public health officials around the globe. Exiting Zambia via Johannesburg in October, after the restrictions around South Africa relaxed, Daniel then had to fly to Brisbane. But with borders firmly closed between states and territories, he found himself caught in the bureaucratic nightmare that was Western Australia's G2G pass and COVID testing. This is Daniel's story.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

Peter's Story

Peter was in south-west China when the pandemic was declared, on a regular business trip and visiting his wife's family. Already experiencing lockdowns in China from early 2020 even before the pandemic was declared, Peter heeded the early advice from the Morrison government to shelter in place. Arriving in China in January 2020 and booked to return to Australia in July 2020, and likening the pandemic to SARS which was over in a few months, Peter didn't think it would take him, his wife and daughter 18 months to get home. Exiting China was a fraught exercise, and the deteriorating relationship between China and Australia adding to the complexity. And once he did get back, his family were forced into hotel quarantine – a nightmare because both he and his daughter suffered from anxiety. This is Peter's story.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.