“When do you think our Borders will Reopen?” & “When will we be able to Travel Overseas and Cruise Again?”
Whoever thought this pandemic would put “Travel On Hold” for so long. Victoria went back into lockdown along with parts of NSW mid- July, just when we thought Australia was ready to roll again. Fingers crossed and please enjoy a brief update as at 23 OCT 2020.
SELLING QUEENSLAND TO QUEENSLANDERS: Personally, I only selling “Queensland to Queenslanders” until “All” borders re-open and New Zealand allow us Aussies in. I recently took a Road Trip North staying at Noosa, Woodgate and Tin Can Bay calling into many coastal towns experiencing beautiful beaches plus I got to visit Australia Zoo, zoomed around the Sunshine Coastline on The Noosa Thriller, enjoyed an EBike ride along Woodgate promenade, hand-fed Dolphins at Tin Can Bay and took a Day Trip to Fraser island (with a scenic flight over Lake Mackenzie) from Rainbow Beach, very excited to Cruise and Fly in the one day. We have so much to offer close to home for the coming Christmas Holidays, suggest packages to Kingfisher Bay Resort on Fraser island, Lady Elliot and Heron Islands for something special during our hot summer months.
FLYING: Qantas announced this morning – “Once Queensland opens up NSW boarder, they could be up to 50% capacity by Christmas”, “Virgin Flying for 20 years” and Jetstar are promoting Specials & Singapore Airlines have airfares out to many destinations now Singapore is OPEN for business.
CRUISING: Most Cruise lines have left our Australian shores until October 2021. Some, like Carnival, P&O and Princess, are hopeful of earlier departures and this will bring their ships back sooner. Good news more ships are coming to Brisbane’s new Cruise Terminal – Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas in November 2021 and P&O’s Pacific Encounter (once named Star Princess) arrives in May 2021 (was to be November 2021). These newer and bigger ships will offer the many new cruise regulations and health rules now required for cruising. Norwegian Cruise Lines, Holland America and many Smaller Expedition Ships are redeploying their ships to other destinations before returning to our waters in 2022.
TRAIN TRAVEL: There are more “Train Journeys” operating than ever before. Not just the Ghan or Indian Pacific, there are departures on service between Brisbane and Adelaide during the coming months for Christmas Holidays, mind you already heavily booked.
AIRTOURS: APT are offering a 7 day tour out of Brisbane departing 18 November 2020 including 2 nights Kangaroo Island, 2 nights Uluru, 2 nights Port Augusta with a day trip out to Wilpena Pound in your own private plane, which is nearly full. Crooked Compass have a Day Air Tour called a “Long Lunch in the Whitsundays” out of Brisbane on 08 December 2020 flying into Hamilton Island, board a private yacht and taken to an island for lunch on the beach with drinks flowing all day. Theses are not cheap, however, for those that need to getaway and fore fil their wish list, I suggest you go for it.
SOUTH PACIFIC: Once the NZ bubble opens, Fiji, Vanuatu are also ready for tourists after many hotel renovations during Covid-19.
ASIA: Good news is many Asian destinations are COVID-19 free, Myanmar, Indonesia and of course India and China are a long time off tourism returning to their shores.
As we all wait and watch our wonderful world heal, Sign up for my Newsletters for Updates and Travel Ideas as we hopefully reopen borders and begin our NZ & South Pacific Travel Bubble in the near future.
