Kleinskotter travels
Australia edition
About
I love to share our family experiences, warts and all. I created this blog to share our adventures as we move from Ohio to Australia for 6 months. Our team photo above was taken at the Columbus Zoo's Australia exhibit. We made a visit to the zoo on a snowy day in March 2020 (prior to lockdown) right after we found out that I received the Fulbright grant, so it was an auspicious day! If you aren't familiar with the Fulbright program, learn more about it here. To get a sense of our convoluted timeline to get here, check out this breakdown of our Fulbright experience timeline:
I apply along with at least 100 other people for a single Fulbright grant - Distinguished Chair in Applied Policy at Flinders University & Carnegie Mellon Australia (9/2019). I make the cut to get an interview (11/2019). I am selected as the runner-up/alternate (1/2020). The selected finalist candidate declines and I accept (3/2020). The entire Fulbright Australia program shifts from standardized start time (1/2021) to "hopefully sometime" in 2021; I shift my sabbatical request from OSU to move the timeline from Spring 2021 to Autumn 2021. I spend a lot of time worrying about the chances of success to get ourselves into Australia given the very strict travel exemption processes in place to prevent COVID-19 exposures. I am told by Fulbright staffers in Australia that only one of the 30 Fulbright Scholars from the US has received a travel exemption to date (3/2021). Armed with this knowledge, I incorporate COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy work with the South Australian health department into my planned study on tobacco-related communications; I solicit a meeting at request a letter of support for such a collaboration (3/2021). In preparation for my Visa application, I drive 2 hours away to have a medical exam by a country-approved clinic to confirm that I am healthy enough for duty (4/16/2021). I officially apply for a travel exemption to enter the country under the category of providing a "special skill" related to the pandemic on a Friday (4/30/2021), and receive approval for travel on Monday (5/2/2021). I submit the exemption, 3 letters of support, my signed paperwork with Fulbright to the Australian Govt to apply for an International Work Visa (5/3/2021). A few days later, I check the government website and have a minor freak when I see the estimated review period for my type of Visa had INCREASED from 43 days to at least 74 days. The next day (at 2 am) I call the Australian Global Services Centre to inquire on my Visa (who knows how much I will pay in international cell fees to wait on hold) and learn they had no ability to advise on the timeline for review. At 3 am I try to go back to sleep. At noon the following day I receive an email that OUR VISAS ARE APPROVED (5/19/2021)! We book one-way flights to Sydney for 6/25/2021, and arrived in country on 6/27/2021.
[Summary of arrival experiences provided by Jeremy, shared via Facebook]
On June 2th, we flew United out of San Francisco (flight leaving at 11:10PM). We arrived to a nearly empty international terminal, and quickly learned that the plane we were flying, which normally seats >240 passengers, would have less than 30 people on board! (Australia has strict quotas on how many travelers are allowed in from abroad each week.)
Despite the the empty terminal, and the fact that we walked up directly to the counter, check-in took well over an hour because in addition to all the normal hoops, they had to confirm our recent (within 72 hours) negative COVID tests, administer health-check questionnaire, and call Australia directly to confirm our eligibility to travel.
The flight itself was easier than normal, as each of us had a row to ourselves, which allowed us to stretch out. However, we had to remain masked at all times except when "actively" eating or drinking.
We arrived to an equally empty international terminal at Sydney, and were instructed we would have to queue up, as they do not allow any interaction between people on other arriving flights.
After a short wait, we deplaned and were instructed to follow a woman wearing a full medical apron, gloves, mask and shield (most of the airport crew were similarly attired). We then followed (socially distanced from other passengers) and went through a series of stations where they checked our temperature, asked health questions, etc. We were pulled out of line because one of us has a prior health condition that they asked additional questions about. Finally, we were allowed to collect our luggage and were then escorted by military and police onto a bus with other passengers from our flight (the bus was about 1/4 full).
The shuttle bus took us to a nearby hotel where two families with little kids (infants and toddlers) were unloaded which took about 40 minutes, then the rest of us (3 other families) were taken to another hotel. Unfortunately, when we reached the hotel, there was another bus unloading and they told us we would have a short wait as they don't want to contaminate passengers and would need to sanitize once the other bus was unloaded. (A child on our bus needed to pee and the police offer in charge gave him a bottle to use if he couldn't wait.)
Finally, after about 35 minutes of waiting, they began to unload us one family at a time at the Novotel Darling Harbour. There were more questions and lots of instructions (most importantly, you cannot, for any reason, leave your room), and finally escorted upstairs to our room. The whole process -- from the time we landed until we reached our room -- took about 4 hours. This is where we will remain for 14 days. All meals will be provided 3 times per day, delivered to the door; we must always wait 30 seconds before opening the door and we MUST be masked when we open. There's COVID-19 testing 3 times during our stay; a nursing team comes to do the testing in the doorway. We have a large window with a lovely view but cannot open the window. We can have things delivered (coffee, groceries, alcohol [with a daily limit!], food, goods), but there's no housekeeping services. Fortunately, the hotel coordinates some fun events for social connection and fun during our stay. The entire hotel is set aside for hotel quarantine (HQ) purposes. On July 11th we will be able to be "released" presuming negative COVID-19 testing from Day 12. We will need to follow a specific procedure to remain in the quarantine "bubble" on our transit into Adelaide. On arrival we will present a set of paperwork, including Visas, cross border travel permission form, and quarantine completion certificates. Once our travel permission request is approved on site, we will be able to use an app to check in other places we go in SA, but we will be free to travel within the country as long as we abide by the state health guidance based on any future outbreaks; we will have to re-quarantine if we leave the country unless we visit a place within quarantine-free zone, which currently includes New Zealand only. We are living in Australia until mid-December.
I apply along with at least 100 other people for a single Fulbright grant - Distinguished Chair in Applied Policy at Flinders University & Carnegie Mellon Australia (9/2019). I make the cut to get an interview (11/2019). I am selected as the runner-up/alternate (1/2020). The selected finalist candidate declines and I accept (3/2020). The entire Fulbright Australia program shifts from standardized start time (1/2021) to "hopefully sometime" in 2021; I shift my sabbatical request from OSU to move the timeline from Spring 2021 to Autumn 2021. I spend a lot of time worrying about the chances of success to get ourselves into Australia given the very strict travel exemption processes in place to prevent COVID-19 exposures. I am told by Fulbright staffers in Australia that only one of the 30 Fulbright Scholars from the US has received a travel exemption to date (3/2021). Armed with this knowledge, I incorporate COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy work with the South Australian health department into my planned study on tobacco-related communications; I solicit a meeting at request a letter of support for such a collaboration (3/2021). In preparation for my Visa application, I drive 2 hours away to have a medical exam by a country-approved clinic to confirm that I am healthy enough for duty (4/16/2021). I officially apply for a travel exemption to enter the country under the category of providing a "special skill" related to the pandemic on a Friday (4/30/2021), and receive approval for travel on Monday (5/2/2021). I submit the exemption, 3 letters of support, my signed paperwork with Fulbright to the Australian Govt to apply for an International Work Visa (5/3/2021). A few days later, I check the government website and have a minor freak when I see the estimated review period for my type of Visa had INCREASED from 43 days to at least 74 days. The next day (at 2 am) I call the Australian Global Services Centre to inquire on my Visa (who knows how much I will pay in international cell fees to wait on hold) and learn they had no ability to advise on the timeline for review. At 3 am I try to go back to sleep. At noon the following day I receive an email that OUR VISAS ARE APPROVED (5/19/2021)! We book one-way flights to Sydney for 6/25/2021, and arrived in country on 6/27/2021.
[Summary of arrival experiences provided by Jeremy, shared via Facebook]
On June 2th, we flew United out of San Francisco (flight leaving at 11:10PM). We arrived to a nearly empty international terminal, and quickly learned that the plane we were flying, which normally seats >240 passengers, would have less than 30 people on board! (Australia has strict quotas on how many travelers are allowed in from abroad each week.)
Despite the the empty terminal, and the fact that we walked up directly to the counter, check-in took well over an hour because in addition to all the normal hoops, they had to confirm our recent (within 72 hours) negative COVID tests, administer health-check questionnaire, and call Australia directly to confirm our eligibility to travel.
The flight itself was easier than normal, as each of us had a row to ourselves, which allowed us to stretch out. However, we had to remain masked at all times except when "actively" eating or drinking.
We arrived to an equally empty international terminal at Sydney, and were instructed we would have to queue up, as they do not allow any interaction between people on other arriving flights.
After a short wait, we deplaned and were instructed to follow a woman wearing a full medical apron, gloves, mask and shield (most of the airport crew were similarly attired). We then followed (socially distanced from other passengers) and went through a series of stations where they checked our temperature, asked health questions, etc. We were pulled out of line because one of us has a prior health condition that they asked additional questions about. Finally, we were allowed to collect our luggage and were then escorted by military and police onto a bus with other passengers from our flight (the bus was about 1/4 full).
The shuttle bus took us to a nearby hotel where two families with little kids (infants and toddlers) were unloaded which took about 40 minutes, then the rest of us (3 other families) were taken to another hotel. Unfortunately, when we reached the hotel, there was another bus unloading and they told us we would have a short wait as they don't want to contaminate passengers and would need to sanitize once the other bus was unloaded. (A child on our bus needed to pee and the police offer in charge gave him a bottle to use if he couldn't wait.)
Finally, after about 35 minutes of waiting, they began to unload us one family at a time at the Novotel Darling Harbour. There were more questions and lots of instructions (most importantly, you cannot, for any reason, leave your room), and finally escorted upstairs to our room. The whole process -- from the time we landed until we reached our room -- took about 4 hours. This is where we will remain for 14 days. All meals will be provided 3 times per day, delivered to the door; we must always wait 30 seconds before opening the door and we MUST be masked when we open. There's COVID-19 testing 3 times during our stay; a nursing team comes to do the testing in the doorway. We have a large window with a lovely view but cannot open the window. We can have things delivered (coffee, groceries, alcohol [with a daily limit!], food, goods), but there's no housekeeping services. Fortunately, the hotel coordinates some fun events for social connection and fun during our stay. The entire hotel is set aside for hotel quarantine (HQ) purposes. On July 11th we will be able to be "released" presuming negative COVID-19 testing from Day 12. We will need to follow a specific procedure to remain in the quarantine "bubble" on our transit into Adelaide. On arrival we will present a set of paperwork, including Visas, cross border travel permission form, and quarantine completion certificates. Once our travel permission request is approved on site, we will be able to use an app to check in other places we go in SA, but we will be free to travel within the country as long as we abide by the state health guidance based on any future outbreaks; we will have to re-quarantine if we leave the country unless we visit a place within quarantine-free zone, which currently includes New Zealand only. We are living in Australia until mid-December.
