Postcard Trip Home: Returning to Corona....

Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
FAREWELL JAPAN....
There were too many farewells: mainland Russia, Sakhalin Island, our Japanese family, our new friends Ellen, Michelle and David we had made at the hotel, and now our beloved Japan. And every time we say goodbye these days, we know that it just could be the last adventurous trip we are able to undertake. It is hard not to think about....  
As we sped along the freeway from Tokyo city to Narita airport, we entered yet another time and thought capsule. After some five week's travel, we were finally on our way home. Or at least we hoped we were....
At our hotel that morning televised world news was again saturation Corona Virus and disturbingly, more news of cancelled international flights and extended delays with people trying to return to their home countries. The intensity of the news reports and concerns from our friends back home about the implications of Corona were infectious. We just hoped our scheduled combined flight was not another part of the collateral damage caused by what was alarmingly now being described as a World Pandemic.
Media articles from Australia told of ridiculous situations of supermarkets being totally bought out of staple items. It was we heard, impossible to source basic items such as flour, rice and pasta. Even toilet paper supplies had been bought out. According to reports, grocery store shelves were emptied. Was Australia expecting a siege? Was this some sort of joke? Other stories told of "convoys of buses filled with Chinese passengers” travelling into Australian regional centres, and buying out stores of all types of grocery goods. That story was unbelievable. It was concerning. Not the stores being depleted. But rather, the more sinister racist overtones. The latter we still believe were social media beat-ups that became fiercely argued "urban truths"....
So caught up in our discussions about the Corona situation, we barely noticed the now familiar freeway drive to Narita Airport. We realised then that it was cherry blossom time. Even on the freeway we could catch glimpses of gorgeous flower laden trees in between lovely snapshots of Tokyo city and bay. How terrible that we had not had the occasion to witness this wonderful phenomenon during our stay in Japan. Fortunately however, we had been lucky enough to have experienced cherry blossom time on numerous occasions. 
LAST SCHEDULED FLIGHT OUT OF JAPAN
Our flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong, en route to Sydney, was horrible. The entire front part of the aircraft had been extended to house what must have been some hundred or so Business Class passengers. Packed in like sardines, it was more than concerning being housed in what one could easily imagine was Corona laden vapour. Even more worrying were thoughts of the conditions being endured by the poor passengers at the other end of the aircraft. 
Thankfully, the flight time was only three hours. It was probably fortunate too, that we had no idea it was the very last scheduled flight out of Tokyo before the first world-wide Corona Virus lockdown.
As we sat in one of the Hong Kong Airport Departures Lounges waiting for our Sydney connection, we mused at the irony of our situation. On our outward-bound flight from Sydney to Hong Kong, we were very much preoccupied with media reports of the deadly confrontations of Hong Kong people with Chinese authorities. Corona we thought, was really a secondary concern. Only some five weeks later, there was virtually no news about the demonstrations or riots. It was all about Corona....
Hong Kong Airport was strangely quiet. Our connection to our Cathay Pacific return flight to Sydney however, went smoothly with no significant delays. Our overnight flight was as usual, comfortable and we were able to sleep most of the way.
WELCOME TO SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA.....
Sydney airport staff are generally a friendly laid-back lot, with funny accents. It's true. When we are away from our home country for any period of time, we often laugh that we never notice Australian accents until we come back home. After all, we must sound the same!
This morning was a different matter. Staff were unfriendly and unhelpful. And with funny accents. Downright rude, actually.
Utilising any sort of digital technology is always a challenge for us. And on our arrival, we thought we had excelled ourselves with our electronic passport recognition procedures. But that was not so. As I stood waiting for Alan to complete his arrival registration, an official barked at me to move. Apparently, I was standing in the wrong place. "Corona Virus procedures. Move from there!" he snapped. Move where? I thought. But that was nothing compared with the treatment that many non-Australian arriving passengers were getting from other similarly offensive staff. It was truly shameful bullying behaviour.
I have no idea why the staff were so hostile. After all, even though our flight was full, it was the only flight arrival at that time, and we certainly had seen a lot more packed conditions.
It became uglier. At the luggage carousels, we noticed a group of young Asian women being interrogated by airport staff.  Their treatment was simply awful. Time and again, they were bombarded with the same questions about where they were from and where they intended to stay in Sydney. The young women we guessed, may have been returning students. And to their credit they remained amazingly passive and super polite. Were they being blamed for the Corona issues? Probably.
When the officials left, we asked the young women if they needed any assistance. Did they have a place to stay? Did they need help with transport? They smiled, thanking us profusely and saying they would be fine. We hoped so. 
Welcome to Australia. And as our politicians so smugly tell us "The Most Successful Multi-Cultural Country in the World"....
A PICTURE POSTCARD FLIGHT HOME
Apart from the appalling behaviour at the airport, it was good to be back in our home country. And the day was simply sparkling; perfect conditions for our flight to Port Macquarie.
We were very fortunate too as thanks to Alan, we had accrued enough frequent flyer points from our China Eastern Miles to use them as "entry tickets" to the Qantas Lounge as we waited for our final homeward flight.
While we were enjoying a champagne in the lounge, Hazel Cat Sitter messaged to say she would not dream of not driving us home from Port Macquarie. There was no argument and that was that. As she said, there were no self-isolation restrictions in place. It was very good of her, but we did feel uneasy with her decision. We would have felt worse of course, if we had known that self-isolation conditions would be imposed within the week.
Our flight home was quite magical; a postcard, picture perfect flight route taking us right over Sydney Harbour, the Opera House and North Head, before closely following the splendid coastline some 400 km north of Sydney city. We could even see our home village of Crowdy Head; a tiny hamlet perched on an ancient island, joined to the mainland by a seven km isthmus of sand.
Hazel was waiting for us at the airport. Our first questions were of course "How are the cats?" Hazel had sent daily videos and photos, so we knew they were fine and well. During our one-hour drive back home we chatted excitedly to Hazel about our travel adventures. It was to be our only opportunity for quite some time as she had decided not to stay with us but to drive back to her home, some three hours' drive south of our home village.
Our voyage was over. Chatting together that evening, we began to realise just what an extraordinary journey we had experienced in the Extreme Arctic North. We had reached one of the northernmost destinations in all of the Russian Federation. We visited Arctic townships where we were the first ever recorded foreign tourists. We had reached the coldest settlement on the planet. And we had fulfilled a dream of reconnecting with the ill-famed Road of Bones. 
We had the unique opportunity of living with Russian ethnic families, some of which - the Dolgans - are amongst the most endangered minority groups on earth. We had forged wonderful friendships and experienced some of the most bizarre and downright dangerous adventures. It was not always comfortable. But we survived. 
Our travel agent Ed had been spot on. This journey had been a true expedition. 
And it was up there with some of the best trips we have experienced.
POSTSCRIPT
Following our return home, our trip attracted the interest of several Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) media programs.
Media articles and radio interviews can be found at: https://amp.abc.net.au/article/12068596 (article by Emma Siossian and Cameron Marshall, ABC Mid North Coast) and https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/nightlife/travel-russian-arctic/12192226 (radio interview Nightlife with Philip Clarke, Sydney ABC). 
A special thank you to local radio presenter of the Mid North Coast ABC "Breakfast" program, Cameron Marshall for his ongoing interest in our travels and for his support in organising local and Australia-wide media coverage.
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Comments

londone7
2021-08-03

Interesting experience documenting historic times. Good aerial views of Sydney on a clear day

2025-02-12

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