On phone trying to cancel DD's trip to Austrailia

[cottonwoolbrain]

Been on hold nearly 15 minutes.

She was meant to be going with her best friend's family next weekand its been planned over a year. She's so sad as is her friend.

No idea if we'll get money back as it sounds like foreign office advice will change 2 days before she's due to go but no real point if they have to spend 2 out of 3 weeks in quarantine. To add to the confusion her friend and her mum are Australian citizesn so may come under different rules from DD. They were meant to be staying with her friends grandparents in Melborne and then fly to Sydney to stay with other family. I think the only choice is to cancel

Its so confusing. She's so gutted. I'm past caring about the money (we'd spent it anyway) but I'm so sad for her and her friend. I know its the same for masses of people.

Up to 23 minutes on hold now

I know this isn't going to help but when I came back from Australia early on a working holiday visa my mum said to me Australia will always be there. She will have a much better time going when things are more normal than if she were to go now. The money situation is obviously crap and hopefully you'll be able to recover some.

That's what DD's lovely hostess said to me.

"Austrailia will still be here next year. Our door is always open to mini lists and next year will be better as the animals are recovering from the bush fires so she'll see more koalas and wallabies and we'll be able to take them to more places"

Better start saving for next year .

Still on hold, 35 minutes now but apparently I'm number 3 in the queue.

Name change fail not that it really matters :) I post under both intermittantly

Melbourne is Australia's Leicester at the moment, so probably best not to go.

She won't be allowed in, you have to be Australian citizens or hold PR or be an immediate family member of a citizen or resident (or a Kiwi who usually lives here). If her friend and her mum come they will have to spend 14 days in hotel quarantine. At the moment flights are being diverted from Melbourne to other cities or cancelled due to the Melbourne outbreak, certain Melbourne postcodes are also locked down for the next four weeks so nobody is visiting there. It doesn't matter whether or not the UK will let you travel, your insurance should cover cancellation/airline should refund because you don't have a choice. Next year....

Flabbergasted. Spoke to lovely Australian man who said we could get a full refund for the flight tickets and it would be processed in around 12 weeks. I'd lined myself up for a fight with the insurance company to be honest.

Still feel sad but at least its something.

She will not be allowed in until next year. The boarders are shut. Only citizens allowed in and then they have to quarantine for 14 days. Melbourne has had a second outbreak, so wouldn’t want to go there. NSW and VIC boarders are currently open to each other but the other interstate boarders are shut. However the bad decision of hers is that she’s not thinking of coming to WA😂😂

Glad you got it sorted but Australia’s borders have been shut to non Australian citizens for ages now, if you’d checked this a month ago or longer you would know that she would not be allowed in. And any Australian citizen travelling back into the country is also forced to go in hotel quarantine for two weeks, again that has been a rule for well over a month now, possibly since as far back as March, it’s surprising your friends didnt seem to know that!

Melbourne is Australia's Leicester at the moment

Melbourne has around 400 cases with 20 in hospital. Many of these were detected in isolation facilities in people returning from overseas. Many of the others can be traced back to specific venues/cafes/shops.

Leicester has god knows how many cases (even the mayor wasn't aware of a problem until yesterday), with no real way of finding a source.

I'd take Melbourne over Leicester any day.

Right now I'd take a desert island.

Theresabearinthere you're right of course. My first post was somewhat confused - I'm somewhat confused right now

I'd take Melbourne over Leicester any day.

So would I, regardless of any Covid-19 concerns.

The BORDERS, FFS. The BORDERS are shut.

BOARDER = noun
1.
a person who receives regular meals when staying somewhere, in return for payment or services.
2.
a person who forces their way on to a ship in an attack.

Melbourne gas 20 covid patients in hospital while the population of the city is 5 million. I wouldn't call that a Leicester.

Melbourne gas 20 covid patients in hospital while the population of the city is 5 million. I wouldn't call that a Leicester.

Compared to the rest of Australia it is.

As of 2 July 2020, the total number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Victoria is 2,303, a net increase of 72 since yesterday’s report.

www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/coronavirus-covid-19-daily-update

Victoria reported 73 new Covid-19 cases overnight, with 10 hotspot postcodes to enter lockdown from midnight as the state tries to bring the cases under control.

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/01/coronavirus-victoria-73-new-covid-19-cases-reported-as-36-melbourne-suburbs-return-to-lockdown

My understanding is that the 2,303 figure is cumulative - from the 1st January.

Total confirmed cases in the whole of Australia during this outbreak is 8,001 with 104 deaths.

Puts our figures into perspective.