A journey from Malaysia to Australia under more unusual circumstances

2020, and 2021 and beyond ? Who knows right now.

The challenge of travelling internationally during the pandemic has been a great burden on the expatriate communities of all nations, preventing them from regular travel between home and work. A process that has always been taken for granted and, for most who do it frequently, not unlike catching a suburban bus or train. Now it’s just a little crazy and changes from month-to-month, occasionally week-to-week, and annoyingly sometimes day-to-day.

So what follows is a story, a gallery of images, and a couple of videos documenting the lead-up, the challenges and the finalé of a journey from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Cairns, Australia. Videos are best viewed with the sound turned up.

I have put the story here because it just wasn’t that f*n simple. You may enjoy the read.

It all started in March 2020 (for me anyway). There was a virus emerging in China and seemed to be a bit problematic. Some companies decided early to have their staff work from home for a bit. This seemed to be an opportune moment to head back on a regular trip. I could see out the next few-to-several weeks working from my actual home town in Cairns rather than my primary foreign residence in Malaysia. And then the world went upside down.

In the departure lounge in Malaysia I discovered that expats like myself, leaving during this period, would not be automatically allowed back in to the country. This despite work and residency permits. On the plane I found out my own country had shut down borders completely and I was on the second last flight on this route to Cairns.

Five months later the rules had evolved sufficiently and I was able to return to Malaysia. Things were looking up. Not so many cases, it all looked under control. And then the world went upside down.

Wave 2, a brief respite at the turn of the year - we were allowed to travel interstate for New Year to the east coast of Malaysia - but international borders remained slammed shut. Happy New Year 2021. Vaccines were here. Hope was on the horizon. And then the world went upside down.

Wave 3 and more lockdowns. Disinformation, vaccine scare stories, skeptics, unbelievers, slow moving and pointless politicking in preference to actual problem solving. By now governments had decided to stop paying for health management of travellers. So the expected travel cost skyrocketed, from less than a thousand dollars for a round trip, to an anticipated ten thousand dollars for a one way journey and the privilege of being locked up in a hotel room for two weeks.

As it turns out, the media outlets are unsurprisingly unhelpful, due to their business strategy founded around the primary narcissistic objective of being the focus of attention, rather than being known for imparting reliable factual information. And have you ever tried to understand the labyrinthine instructions on a government website. I will say no more on this latter topic, as i know you are either face-palming or ROFL or just living in serene ignorant bliss of never having had to do so.

Having not been home for 12 months, plans started to take shape on how to make this happen. Firstly i had to find an accessible entry point in to the country. Cairns had no international flights anymore and was not likely to open for some time. Not all entry points were universally accessible any longer, depending on where you were coming from. Then there was the need to navigate the random and unpredictable internal restrictions to avoid getting locked in to my own country but outside of my home state. Queensland being particularly paranoid and unimaginative when it came to solutions for allowing its residents to travel in and out of the state safely.

It’s just easier to say No !!

So the facebook group Australians Stranded in Malaysia C-19, started and curated by a wonderfully dedicated Aussie, likewise stranded and trapped, becomes a source of clarity in these haphazard times - shout out to Fotini - and thank you !!

… and there it was … 25th August …

Hi . I am taking 2 new large boats from Sarawak Malaysia to Cairns Australia early October and willing to take 6 people with some sea experience with us as crew , at no cost and will provide stores

OMG - a chance to 1. Get back to Australia, 2. Get direct to my home town, 3. Do it without the ludicrous cost and the Russian roulette uncertainty of international air travel in to Australia, and 4. finally - a blue water sail for 2 weeks - definitely a bucket-list entry to tick off.

I’m in.

Now this process apparently, had become normal to Australians. They had discovered that they didn’t actually live in a unified country, but rather a group of separate fiefdoms. Each of whom had been imposing inconsistent rules and methods, allegedly all based on the same medical advice. East Malaysia, particularly Sarawak, was following suit.

As a foreigner with a work permit I was allowed to leave Malaysia, but if I wanted to come back (sort of a necessity as that’s my primary source of employment) then I needed to apply ahead of time for a re-entry permit, despite already having a 10 year residency visa.

Great, the Malaysia government has a website - just go-online and apply. Did I mention earlier about how easy government websites are to use ? A couple of text messages to friends that had done it recently and that problem is solved.

Now book a flight … done … OK that’s probably the easiest step.

Now I need a letter from the shipyard asking for permission to cross the border - done.

Stop press- Malaysia has allowed domestic travel across borders for double vaxxed residents. Awesome - I don’t have to quarantine.

But wait - Sarawak has to validate this rule and agree that they want do that too.

Sigh … breathe … wait another week.

And its confirmed. Right I now have another 2 weeks up my sleeve to prep for the journey, psychologically and physically.

Check on the planned departure date. Hang on, it appears that the two Australian skippers, and two Indonesian crew still haven’t received their Sarawak permissions. OK - move the flight by another week. Breathe.

Some good news - I don’t need the police permit anymore so that’s another thing I don't need to do. Now, no domestic quarantine and no police permit.

Nothing is ever that simple.

All I had to do was get a clear COVID PCR test. But I still had to submit the Enter Sarawak application. The problem being the COVID test had to be less than 72 hours. You had to get a result then. That result had to be submitted to the online Enter Sarawak site. Then you had to get approval. My flight was Thursday - it was Tuesday - it’s a Public Holiday !! (there are a ton of these in Malaysia) … but there are clinics to get tested so that’s ok.

At least I don’t need the full PCR test anymore - an RTK-Ag test is fine and the results come back quicker so that’s less stressful.

Go get test … go have breakfast … get test result - all clear … discover that Enter Sarawak website doesn’t work properly on iPad … finish breakfast … go home … login to PC … discover Enter Sarawak website isn’t accepting PDF uploads right now … convert all documents to .jpg … upload them. Phew that’s all done.

Wait. Breathe. Give them some time to process my application - a few hours should do it.

No response on Enter Sarawak - its a public holiday - stuff it, I’ll call the helpline as surely this must be a 24x7 service - thankfully it is.

Finally I get past all the hyper-efficient voice prompts to talk to a real live person. These systems are designed to make your experience so much smoother to avoid high staffing levels, but in reality seem to be designed to piss you off so you hang up and don’t need to bother anyone … to avoid high staffing levels.

Yes sir we can see your application. You have got the wrong test - we need a PCR test.

Panic.

Stop panicking - book a PCR test (and pay for it) later that afternoon - last one of the day. Hopefully results will be back in time for me to re-apply the evening before I have to fly.

Check the Sarawak government website. Read the SOPs again. Google translate from Malay.

Definitely says RTK-Ag is ok. Ring up the Helpdesk again.

Navigate the voice prompts. I’m getting good at this.

Talk to real person - Excuse me but your SOPs say RTK-Ag is ok.

But you are Australian, sir.

Yes but I live and work here so am considered a domestic travel applicant.

Oh - we hadn’t noticed that. Apparently my residential address, copy of my Malaysian work permit and Malaysia digital vaccination certificate documentation submitted in the application hadn’t quite registered.

Ahh yes - we notice that - yes that’s ok - we have accepted your entry - SMS and email come through while i am still on the phone - actually quite an efficient technological system once the human elements figure it out.

Get a call at 3:30pm - You haven’t shown up for your PCR test - Yeah i know. Don’t worry about it and keep the money I don’t need the test any more.

Finally. Relax. Glass of red wine - I don’t care if is 4pm - its still a public holiday.

Mine is an RP-T pass that I don’t think he has seen before. But a couple of trips (three actually) from the booth back to the office, where all the bosses hang out and the photocopier is located, and all is good.

I meet the skippers. A couple of minor hitches with the boats in the initial sea trials mean a two day delay so we will push off on Thursday rather than the Tuesday. All is good. Still working from the hotel ok. And wow are the sunsets amazing here on the northern side of Borneo.

Explore the town a bit. Everything is pretty shut down but seems to be opening up as Malaysia eases restrictions internally. Vaccination rates are beginning to hit their mark and cases start to come down. ICUs experience a reduction in occupancy rates.

Miri is a cute small town. The food choices are predominately Chinese based with some funky bars and modern western eateries starting to emerge.

Tuesday PCR tests completed for all of us. Pack the bags for check out tomorrow (Wednesday).

OK - not me.

But it appears that whilst they were running around town, the skippers had a kindly mate that showed them around, helped get them to the right places, do the shopping etc. Wife’s got a touch of the flu right now but we’re just fine thanks !?!?!

In Kuala Lumpur, your best mates, and often loved ones, wouldn’t come within a mile of you if you had a sniffle. In Miri awareness is not quite up there, and the message of just-do-a-test if you feel a little unwell, hadn’t quite got through.

Sure enough, it turns out that wife-of-friend and said friend both had COVID too.

That means 10 days isolation for the skippers until they get cleared and so 10 more days in Miri working remotely from the hotel.

Ring the hotel front desk - hold my beer - I need to hang around for another week !!

Fortunately, being double vaccinated, symptoms were mild and recovery was quick. Isolation on the boats themselves meant they didn’t have expensive hospital or hotel fees and could easily get pizza delivered.

Finally the health department clears us and we are ready to go. Another Malaysian public holiday and the harbour master goes MIA. This could potentially delay departure for another 3–4 days before he gets back to the office and gets around to attending to our file that he has had for a week already.

Miri isn’t a big town so they eventually hunt him down, get harbour master clearance, immigration stamps our passports, and we are off.

The video and gallery links at the top have the visuals for the trip, which is far better told in images than words.

Some of my fellow inmates didn’t grab their phones. One local didn’t even bother with shoes. Shoes are an optional clothing item here in Cairns.

6 hours later we are all relocated. Views are much better from the new place. And it just a case of running down the clock.

25th August - Call for crew

18th October - Initially hoped for departure date

21st October - Fly to Miri

26th October - Next hoped for departure date

28th October - New departure date

26th October - COVID positive skippers - 2 steps backward

4th November - Malaysian Health clearance

6th November - Final departure date !!

… 17 days later …

23rd November - Arrive Cairns - let’s do quarantine because 17 days isolation on the ocean isn’t enough

28th November - Inmate attempts to burn down quarantine hotel - relocate hotels

7th December - 12:01 am - heading home !!

21st October leave Miri - 47 days, 14 nights in a hotel in Sarawak, 5 officially administered COVID tests, 3 personal self-tests, 17 days of blue water sailing (and effective isolation) on a boat, 1 hotel evacuation and 14 days of (IMHO unnecessary) hotel quarantine later - 7th December - finally get to my house in Australia (do we call this check-in ??).

Not the normal red-eye 12 hour journey plane trip home. Is this the new normal ?

I suppose we shall see.

Happy 2022 to all of you.