Fiji to Bundaberg September

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

Plus there's a state election coming up in Queensland and they want to exploit the covid thing to the limit for political purposes. Already happening in NT and WA.

I cant help feeling theres political posturing at hand.

[Alan Mighty]

Originally Posted by daletournier

I cant help feeling theres political posturing at hand.

Surely political posturing is a given in most all human societies? And even on CF? Constant wars between socio-economic classes, between castes or status groups, and so on.

More important to you are restrictions being imposed by governments and implemented by their agents of coercion.

For the southeast corner of Queensland but not yet extending to Bundaberg, the restrictions now include:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-...itors/12585596

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by daletournier

I've been watching, I see westerlies between Qld and new cal now. Also I haven't had the set and forget trades across the Pacific either.

Dale, this is why in the past we've chosen this time of year to make the passage from Southport to either NC or VAnuatu... frequent W'ly quadrant winds.

We've made the reverse trip many t imes in late Nov or early Dec, mostly with decent trades. Have arrived in Gladstone, Bundy, Brisbane and Coffs, depending upon our plans for the summer.

Doubt if that helps you in the current situation... hope that you can work it out.

Jim

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Dale, this is why in the past we've chosen this time of year to make the passage from Southport to either NC or VAnuatu... frequent W'ly quadrant winds.

We've made the reverse trip many t imes in late Nov or early Dec, mostly with decent trades. Have arrived in Gladstone, Bundy, Brisbane and Coffs, depending upon our plans for the summer.

Doubt if that helps you in the current situation... hope that you can work it out.

Jim

Thanks Jim, theres always solutions. A couple of things come to light today that are very promising.

[Davo1404]

Originally Posted by philiosophy

John Hembrow of "THE GO WEST RALLY" is gathering names of Yachties who are stuck in Australia due to Covid. Trying to get the Immi department to be a bit more generous in this hard time. I think this would be a great discussion thread as well. Having a bit of a time figuring out how to start a new thread. Anybody help me with this....

There is also a Facebook page set up so people that are having visa issues in Australia can share & help each other.

[Perfect Ride]

Originally Posted by daletournier

Anyone else that's thinking of heading home from the Pacific should contact John

downunderrally@gmail.com

I just had a very positive conversation with him, he has a little more insight into what's happening regarding officialdom....good bloke as well.

Worth repeating... They run a great group.

[Budawang]

There's a bit of public outrage at the moment over a wealthy citizen being given an exemption to leave the country to pick up his "luxury yacht" in Greece.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/...21-p55o8s.html

From a civil liberties perspective, I'm more concerned about restrictions preventing citizens from leaving than restrictions preventing foreign nationals arriving. The real problem is that state and federal governments have failed to put in place a fail safe quarantine regime which is why there is so much panic over borders. We were able to quarantine people effectively in the 19th Century so I don't understand why we can't do it in the 21st.

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by Budawang

There's a bit of public outrage at the moment over a wealthy citizen being given an exemption to leave the country to pick up his "luxury yacht" in Greece.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/...21-p55o8s.html

......

Thanks for the link... I'll use that when I want to fly out to pick up my yacht.....

[Bigmarv]

LOL at indignation over how Oz borders are treating wealthy boat owners in this time of a global health crisis. Getting upset a yank not being given entry, or about 2 weeks of enforced isolation lacks perspective imho. All a lot better and done with proper process than shoving the yank on Manus island indefinitely.

[Budawang]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

Thanks for the link... I'll use that when I want to fly out to pick up my yacht.....

Yes, but does your bank account have the right number of zeros in it?

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Budawang

Yes, but does your bank account have the right number of zeros in it?

Or conversely, does El P have the right numbers in his phone speed dial settings.

However the best bet is to have both.

To be honest though, methinks that El P doesn't rub shoulders with the right pollies

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by Bigmarv

LOL at indignation over how Oz borders are treating wealthy boat owners in this time of a global health crisis. Getting upset a yank not being given entry, or about 2 weeks of enforced isolation lacks perspective imho. All a lot better and done with proper process than shoving the yank on Manus island indefinitely.

Well actually they advertise applications are evaluated on a" case by case " basis therefore my "indignation" is due to that not actually being the case...have you actually looked it the processes thoroughly? have you spoken to officials including border force agents that are extremely frustrated by the lack of clarity and direction they've been given by the bureaucracy making/changing the rules, have you paid the money to apply and recieved correspondence from them over a four month period only to be told you never applied , have you paid $1,200 dollars like my yank crew has on covid tests?.....my guess is no BUT thanks for the helpful input!

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by daletournier

Well actually they advertise applications are evaluated on a" case by case " basis therefore my "indignation" is due to that not actually being the case...have you actually looked it the processes thoroughly? have you spoken to officials including border force agents that are extremely frustrated by the lack of clarity and direction they've been given by the bureaucracy making/changing the rules, have you paid the money to apply and recieved correspondence from them over a four month period only to be told you never applied , have you paid $1,200 dollars like my yank crew has on covid tests?.....my guess is no BUT thanks for the helpful input!

Unfortunately you have plenty of reasons to be "upset". I feel ashamed by the bungling of the Aussie border closures. It is one thing to be smart and limit travel in pandemic times - after all the virus can only move around via it's host moving around BUT this could be controlled so much better by using intelligent decisions.

Off topic - some farmer who had all the correct permits to travel himself between his two farms either side of the border but was not allowed to move the necessary hay between them. Bureaucrats told him should cart the 43 tons of hay all the way to Tullamarine, fly it to Sydney, quarantine for a fortnight and then truck it hundreds of Ks to the other farm. All instead of simply driving it across one bridge and a few K's to the other farm gate.

Some shearing contractor who had permission to cross a border with the shearing team (and a fortnight of quarantine) but could only shear at one address. He could not move the team to the next farm and was told he had to return home after every job and apply for a new exemption for each job (along with a new quarantine etc etc). Most job's only took a day or so - the bureaucrat tells him that he is scamming the system because he (the bureaucrat) knew shearing contractors live in the shearing shed for months at a time - yeah right, that was how it was back in the 19th century - hello 2020!

Baby in hospital in one state - parents prevented from travelling to baby because the hospital was a few Ks outside the "border bubble".

Dozens of other cases - too numerous to mention.

Some of this is political posturing as posted by RaymondR above but there is plenty bureaucratic dumb****erly doing the rounds as well. None of it is excusable .

I suppose the public service was never smart but there was a time I thought it was.

OK rant over.... back to regular programming.

[Budawang]

Originally Posted by Wotname

I suppose the public service was never smart but there was a time I thought it was.

OK rant over.... back to regular programming.

One major lesson from the pandemic is that it's vital for a country to have a strong public sector independent of excessive political interference. The problem in Victoria is that their public service was run down by the past couple of governments which led to the decision to outsource quarantine to the private sector with little oversight. You can blame the neo liberal ideology which actively tries to undermine the public sector. It's a myth that the private sector can always do things better than the public.

There are lots of highly competent and hard working public servants in Australia but, ultimately, politicians are responsible for the health of their various departments.

[JPA Cate]

Ahem! No political posting except that which is directly related to cruising or sailing.
You can check the exact wording in the Community Rules. The moderators realize political decisions affect cruisers' travel decisions, but CF is not the place to try to solve the worlds' problems, better use other venues for political discussion.


This thread will be closed if it turns into political ranting.

Ann