Victorians race to get home ahead of COVID border closure, leaving NSW tourism operators in tears - ABC News

It took less than an hour for Victorian guests at the Garden of Eden Caravan Park in Eden, on the NSW South Coast, to start checking out after the Victorian Government yesterday announced plans to close its border with NSW.

Key points:

• Victoria will close its border to NSW from January 2
• Victorian residents holidaying in NSW have been rushing to get back across the border
• Some Victorians say they are unsure when they will be allowed home with the border permit restrictions

Acting Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan told Victorians the state would close its border to all of NSW from January 2 because of an increase in case numbers in NSW, where 10 new cases were confirmed on Thursday.

"Obviously this is going to cause some disruption for Victorians who may be holidaying, we do apologise for this disruption, however as I said, these difficult decisions are about protecting our community," she said.

"It is a decision based on the public health advice.

"It is based on the numbers coming out of NSW and it is also based on wanting to make sure we lock in the precious gains and sacrifices Victorians have made."

The Acting Premier said there were thousands and "possibly tens of thousands" of Victorians in NSW who would need to get home.

"We have been sending a very strong message for the best part of a week-and-a-half, 10 days now, advising people to think very carefully about their travel to NSW," she said.

Ms Allan said Victorian travellers in NSW who arrived back in their home state on Thursday would be required to have a COVID test and isolate at home until they had their results back.

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Victorians who make it home on Friday will need to isolate in their homes for 14 days, while Ms Allan said any Victorians returning from January 2 would be required to go through hotel quarantine for 14 days.

At the Garden of Eden Caravan Park, where 95 per cent of guests were from Victoria, the press conference was watched live on devices by many campers.

Manager Allan Carlson said he was "really pissed off" that his community, just a 45-minute drive from the Victorian border, was included in the hard closure, even though the local region didn't have any coronavirus cases.

"We have a thousand people in their caravans and everyone was happy and now none of them are happy because they all have got to go home," he said, speaking to the ABC on Thursday after the announcement.

Bushfires, COVID and now Christmas bookings cut short for NSW tourist operator

For the caravan park operator, it was a huge blow.

"We've had basically no trade all year and we were looking forward to this Christmas and now it has been taken away from us again," Mr Carlson said.

His wife Lyn Carlson was in tears after hearing the news.

She said it brought back memories of the caravan park emptying out at New Year's last year when bushfires threatened.

Caravan park manager Lyn Carlson says her work has lost nearly all of its guests because of the border closure.(ABC News: Adriane Reardon)

"It is the same again, exactly the same day 12 months ago and we had everything planned for a New Year's Eve party on the tennis court and there was smoke and nobody could breathe," she said.

"They all packed up and went on the first of January and they are all going tomorrow."

But Ms Carlson said it was COVID-19 even more than bushfires that had the biggest impact on her business.

"I didn't think anything could be worse than the fires but this COVID is 10 times worse," she said.

Read more about coronavirus:

Out fishing, one Victorian couple nearly missed the crucial border news

Wayne and Lynne from Melbourne had to quickly pack up their caravan to get back to Victoria before the state's border closed to NSW.(ABC News: Adriane Reardon)

At Nethercote, just north of Eden, Melbourne couple Lynne and Wayne were fishing when the border closure was announced and only heard about it when they spoke to the ABC.

"I'm just shattered," Wayne said.

"The fish are biting too," he joked.

The pair had planned to stay in NSW for two more days.

"I was totally gutted," Lynne said after hearing news of the border closure.

She said for Melburnians who had spent the year in lockdown wanting to get away for a break, it was tough to cut holidays short.

Wayne and Lynne decided they would travel back across the Victorian border on Thursday night to avoid having to self-isolate for two weeks.

Victorians queue for fuel before starting long drives home

At Pambula, also on the Far South Coast of NSW, campervans, 4WDs and cars with full bike racks lined up for petrol late on Thursday afternoon, as families prepared to quickly travel home from beach holidays cut short.

Local David Evelyn said the last time he saw similar scenes was during last summer's bushfires.

"This time last year, nearly exactly to the minute, we had queues like this trying to get petrol but the difference is the sky was orange," he said.

"Tonight it is not orange and black, it is just all these people here trying to get out of NSW as quickly as they can."

Victorians holidaying in NSW's Far South Coast hit the road on Thursday to get back across the border as quickly as they could.

Some Victorians unsure when they will be allowed to return

Melbourne doctor Christine and her mum Louise Phillips have been in Albury for the past 11 days waiting to get home.

"At this point we don't know how we are going to ever get home, how we'll get a permit to get across the border because they just haven't explained for people in our situation," Ms Phillips said.

Christine travelled to Sydney for a three-day break in mid-December, but a dinner booking at a Manly restaurant meant she had visited Sydney's northern beaches when COVID cases emerged in that part of the city.

She had to spend 14 days outside of the northern beaches "hot zone" to return to Victoria.

Ms Phillips said her daughter spent three days self-isolating with a friend in another part of Sydney before all of the city was designated a "red zone" by Victoria.

She said when Sydney was designated a red zone it meant her daughter needed to spend 14 days in another part of NSW before she could get a permit to travel back to Victoria.

"It was just a simple weekend trip to Sydney but it has turned into a nightmare for us," Ms Phillips said.

Christine decided to spend a fortnight in Albury, with her mum meeting her there so they could be together for Christmas.

Louise Phillips and her daughter Christine have been in an Albury hotel for the past 11 days. They've been using puzzles to help pass the time.(Supplied)

The pair isolated in Albury and had COVID tests, which came back negative.

On Thursday when the border closure announcement was made, they were on Christine's 11th day outside of Sydney.

"We have done absolutely everything perfectly right, but now we are potentially going to be stuck here because we still can't get a permit," Ms Phillips said.

Ms Phillips spent much of Thursday afternoon trying to call the DHHS hotline for advice but couldn't get through because it was overwhelmed with calls.

She said she didn't know if her daughter would be allowed to return to Victoria or if she would need to go through hotel quarantine.

Ms Phillips said the pair were supportive of Victoria's health measures and wanted to do the right thing, but they also wanted to know how they could get home.

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2020-12-31 19:12:00Z
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