A couple have shown how it is possible to downsize to Queensland - even in the face of rapidly-changing coronavirus-related border restrictions - after a 17-day road trip adventure.
During July, Philip and Suzie Medlyn travelled from Cranbourne, south-east of Melbourne, to Ingenia Hervey Bay.
The couple had decided to move north to Hervey Bay because of its stunning weather (particularly compared to Melbourne) and the fact Ms Medlyn’s sister lived in the suburb. They had inspected their new home in February.
After the Medlyns finalised the sale of their family home on 10 July, they immediately hired a truck and headed north.
“We settled on the home around 4pm, and left around 6pm in a truck we’d hired to go one way,” Mr Medlyn said. “We crossed the NSW border around midnight and got to the Queensland border at 9pm on Saturday night.
“We drove up with our border passes and our new resident address, and were quite confident when we gave it to the border police, but the police said you are not allowed in Queensland, you need to isolate in NSW for two weeks”.
The problem was that, while the Medlyns were travelling, Queensland had changed its rules for interstate travellers.
“We spent a night at a truck stop, and slept the night in the truck, which was not that comfortable,” Ms Medlyn said. “We thought ‘we can’t go back to Victoria, we can’t go to Queensland, we’re homeless’.
“We headed to Moree, where my sister had organised a room in a pet-friendly motel, and we stayed there for two weeks.
“On the 15th day, we went back to the border, held our breath and showed the police our passes and motel receipts, and the police said ‘you’ve done the right thing, have a wonderful life in Queensland’.
“So we just crossed the border, and we pulled into a side street, did a high five, breathed and then we got out of there as fast as we could...legally of course.
“It was an experience...but an experience that you would never want to go through again.”
The couple, who are semi-retired and in their 60s, have now settled into their new home.
“I was a truck driver, and normally had to get up at 3am. I am actually sleeping in now, it is nice to get up in the daylight,” Mr Medlyn said.
“Another thing I have found, is that when you live in suburbia, in a normal house, you might see one neighbour, that’s it.
“Here you can’t walk to the letterbox without talking to 10-15 people, it is a five minute walk and it takes three quarters of an hour, and it is great and wonderful, and something completely different.”
About the Queensland border restrictions
Despite the Queensland border restrictions, Downsizing.com.au readers have increased their search activity in Queensland, as the State appears to have dodged the worst of COVID-19.
Current Queensland regulations allow people who are permanently moving to the State - and are coming from a COVID-19 hotspot - to enter the State via air as long as they self-isolate after arrival.
- SEARCH FOR SUNSHINE COAST HOMES SUITABLE FOR OVER 50S HERE
- HEAR THE MEDLYNS TALK ABOUT THEIR JOURNEY AND SETTLING INTO QUEENSLAND BELOW
