This is a totally unplanned, and unwelcome, post! After nearly 500 hours of planning and thousands of dollars, we've hit a snag…
Itinerary Version | 10 |
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Itineray Date | 2021-07-30 |
We all of course have been living with the CoVID Insanity for a long time now, but it's just reared its ugly head again and is affecting our plans.
Well, to tell the truth, CoVID is just a dumb virus. The "ugly heads" belong to our politicians and policymakers, who don't seem to understand that CoVID will be with us forever now and attempts to totally eradicate it will never succeed… but I won't rant on, as that is not the point of these posts.
Countdown
Currently, we are 12 Days, 10 Hours, 7 Minutes and 26 Seconds from our planned departure on Saturday, July 31 at 08:00.
New South Wales, our home State, and Victoria have rising numbers of infected peoples (I mean, it's winter, what do people expect? Also like to highlight that an infection is not a case, unless it progresses to hospitalisation. just saying…).
Border Closure
South Australia have closed their border with NSW (and probably other States as well), and not allowing NSW Residents entry at all. The SA Government website does have a form that can be used to apply for an exemption, but it basically said:
- People applying for an exemption greater than 14 days before their planned border crossing will be given a lower priority
- People applying for an exemption less than 14 days before their planned border crossing are unlikely to receive an answer before their planned crossing date.
Our Responses
Border Crossing Exemption
We've applied for a crossing exemption, but certainly not holding our breath on that one. I did toy with the idea of uploading it exactly 14 days out… but it was too much.
Alert Accommodation and Transport Suppliers
We've sent emails to the 17 Caravan Parks / Hotels / Motels / etc and the 3 Transport Suppliers that we'd booked with, informing them of the likelihood of our booking dates changing. This process has just begun, and being Sunday, I wasn't expecting too many replies – but there have been a couple and they've all been very understanding.
Adjust Leave From Work
This is actually a little tricky for Sandi, as working for the Government, they don't offer a lot of flexibility for changing leave dates. She does have a couple of weeks extra at the end that we could slide into if needed.
I shouldn't have an issue with moving my leave, IT is extremely flexible.
Wait
Basically, there is nothing to do except wait… We're fully packed, and can leave within minutes of the border opening (if needed). Hopefully the waiting will not slide the hike too far into the future, as that will cause other issues (not the least is Sandi's leave).
South Australian Fire Ban Season
The hike can't slide indefinitely, as The Heysen Trail closes over the Summer Fire Ban Season – the Trail passes through three areas, which have varying closure dates.
Based on our unaltered Itinerary, the latest we can leave home and finish the hike before it closes for the Fire Ban Season is September 22.
Pray
Leaving the most powerful to last… we'll of course be asking the prayers of our hike's patron St. Joseph, and praying that God's will be done and that He keeps our ears attentive to His promptings.
Next TaskPlan Adjustments
where we'll pack our little car, lock the house, and leave for the next 82 days.
Our Resources
The Friends of The Heysen Trail have a huge amount of resources available, which we have obviously availed ourselves of quite liberally. I'll be updating this as required…
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