My friend Skippy has been an Australian PR for over 30 years. I think he will NOT become a citizen until his parents who are 90+ years
and living on their own in Malaysia, have moved on. He was here in November 2019 to settle care
giver issues for them.
The coronavirus emerged and Skippy stuck it out here to ensure his
parents were safe. Last Friday Dec 11, he touched down in Tullamarine airport, Melbourne, after being
away for 13 months.
Trauma of booking a flight HOME
On 3.12 when flights were still limited, Skippy booked the first
available SIA flight to Perth via Singapore (leaving on 15.12), and a connecting flight with Virgin Australia to
Melbourne (A$408) after a mandatory quarantine in Perth. The SIA ticket alone cost A$3,500 since only business class was
offered and he was desperate. Like many thousands of Aussies stranded overseas,
Skippy
was concerned the borders would close again,
so he continued scanning for earlier direct flights to Melbourne.
Thankfully, he received an email from DFAT informing him that Malaysia Airlines had
a direct flight on 11.12. Skippy patiently spent
days checking the MH website but nothing was listed until 9.12. Without
hesitation, he filled in the necessary forms only to be told the seat was already taken. Not prepared to give up, he called Customer Helpline and managed
to get his name on the waiting list. On 10.12, he noticed there
was availability so he tried again. Lady Luck smiled on him and he got his
ticket to Melbourne for A$2,300. Skippy had just 24 hours to pack and say goodbye. With so much uncertainty, he did not dare cancel
his original ticket to Perth until he was waiting to board on
11.12. Will he get a refund? Who knows 🤷♂️? The cancellation fee alone for SIA was $800+ with no refund for airport charges. Going home has never been so expensive!
Surprisingly, according to the MH steward, his flight was only allocated 25 passengers. This may be due to a cap placed by respective state governments in Australia based on quarantine capacity where each airline is allocated only a number of seats. In addition, most airlines have also grounded their flights except for few flights to keep their cargo division afloat, so adding on passengers aboard is a bonus.
With 5 passengers in Business class, the 20 economy class
passengers were squashed in the front 5 rows.
It didn’t make sense as the
entire back seats were empty.
The airline should have distributed passengers
into alternate rows for social distancing. He received a packet of masks and lunch.
Seriously, for A$2,300 the airline should have given designer face masks!
MANDATORY QUARANTINE
Skippy arrived at his hotel via the back entrance.
Sorry, with the pandemic, there was no grand front entrance with beaming door
man and welcome drink. Instead, he was greeted by a team of Health Dept. staff,
doctors, nurses, police and army personnel all in PPE. Scary like out of the movies.
Mandatory quarantine meant no visitors in the room. Guests were allowed outside 3 times daily only to collect meals. No wandering around the corridor and fraternising. Guests have to wait 15-20 seconds after hotel staff knocks, open door, pick up food and shut door. Something akin to solitary confinement in prison! Ahh, no room service available! So each
room was provided with cleaning products, rubbish bags, towels, tissues and
toilet paper.
Wahh, wail, sob, this NEW NORM is so sorrowful - Skippy has to pay so much (A$3,000 for the 14 days) and have to clean his own
room.
Lucky
Skippy got a corner room with a view.
Managed to crank open a window by 4 inches for fresh air, keep-fit Skippy By day 6, Skippy had settled into a
routine of hopping, oops I mean jogging in his room. 
He 🤦♂️ actually made the effort to create a decent indoor jogging track by rearranging the bed and tables 🤦♀️.
Come back Skippy, where you running off to? Remember, fraternising is NOT allowed.
He
also discovered better spots to use his resistance bands. Skipping was a
disaster as he churned up too much dust from the carpet! In Skippy's own words, “Wonder what some do in quarantine? Well, I
have rearranged the furniture in the room to get my sanity back, jogging to
increase immunity from the lurking virus.” Know what I
WILL do during quarantine? 
HELLO, Coach Potato! QUARANTINE SOPs
Australia has mandatory SOPs - hotels hosting
overseas returnees must have a medical team and an enforcement personnel
station to check daily on guests’ welfare. 
Skippy informed them that he had hay
fever and meds were delivered to his room free of charge.
He asked for a nail clipper and it was delivered in 30mins
Asked for body lotion, and 4 tubes magically arrived. My my, Skippy you are gonna be as smooth as a baby after 14 days.
At 6,364 km away from his parents, Skippy continued to monitor their care and well-being through a chat
group with the care givers and CCTV via phone.Returning home has never been more difficult. Skippy is concerned about the thousands of stranded Australians that
will NOT be HOME this Christmas
either due to Australia’s 
International arrival
caps or simply because they cannot afford the exorbitant air fares and
quarantine costs. 
But for those of you who have secured tickets home, Skippy
suggests that you:
😍 check with the airline you are travelling with for any
declaration that needs to be completed online to expedite your check-in
procedure.
🤩 complete the online Federation and State declarations.
TRAVEL SAFELY EVERY ONE.
Grateful acknowledgement to Skippy, the ghost writer for this post, for his invaluable contribution and pictures.
