Welcome To Howard Springs – Quarantine Prison Or Ultimate Slow Travel?
Have you ever dreamed of an all-inclusive holiday package in Australia's Northern Territory? Do you want to escape the real world to reconnect with yourself in solitude? Well, search no longer. If you are an Australian national or permanent resident you have now the chance to enjoy a 14-Day all-inclusive stay at the Howard Springs Quarantine Facility. For only 5000 AUD for two people - excluding flights-, this ultimate slow travel package could be yours now! The only prerequisite is that you are currently stuck outside Australia, applying for an expatriate flight to return to the country. Welcome to Howard Springs - your 14-Day Northern Territory outback quarantine camp! Read what quarantine life is really like.
I guess we can all agree that we currently live in unprecedented times that demand things of us we never thought were possible. Depending on where you are, you might live relatively normal right now or you might sit at home under lockdown rules. You might have been stuck at home for the past 18 months or you might have been stranded somewhere outside your home country. Situations constantly fluctuate and rules can change at any time. Most countries are at different stages of the Coronavirus pandemic and every country deals differently with it. There certainly is never a dull moment!
What about Australia?
Australia is known to have some of the strictest rules around the Corona pandemic. For a long time, the continent has prided itself for having had very few COVID cases overall, thanks to the no-nonsense, strict regulations.
Statewide lockdowns for as many as one or two COVID cases were the norm. The number of return travellers from overseas into the country were slashed to 750 per day in total. The lucky few who made it on commercial flights had to pay dearly and additionally had to complete a mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine. The quarantine alone costs about 3000 AUD per person (about 1900 EUR or 2200 USD), 4000 AUD in total if you come as a couple sharing a room.
To avoid all of this, Australian nationals are banned from leaving the country and need to apply should they intend to. Most cases will be rejected! Only if you can prove that you have employment and/or residency in another country are you allowed to leave Australia! Yes, those Aussie rules are not for the faint-hearted!
The Current Situation
Even with all the caution and strict rules, Corona has found its way into the country after all. For about a month now, COVID cases are on the rise in Australia. New South Wales with Sydney as the country’s most populous city, is hit the hardest.
True to the Australian COVID policy, state borders were closed and sent into lockdown with threats of hefty fines for breaking the rules. The next step was to close the country off to the rest of the virus-ridden world, including their own overseas citizens. Cutting the number of daily entries to about 300 people made commercial flights barely operational and booked passengers were being bumped off their flights. The few leftover seats were offered for outrageous amounts of dollars, euros, doubloons or any other currency of your choice. It became simply unrealistic to get a seat on any flight for most Australians trying to return home. Therefore, only a few chosen expatriate flights were installed, bringing the stranded ones back home.
How did we end up in this mess?
We left Australia a year ago, assuming that once a vaccine had been found it would be easier to return to the country. Possibly even without having to quarantine at all. But, au contraire, my friend!
The uptake of the vaccine in Australia had been slower than we expected and with the new outbreak in Sydney, things took a nasty left turn. We had already planned to spend the money on expensive flights and mandatory hotel quarantine, but now even this option seemed to have been taken off the table! It was pretty devastating news, to be honest, and we started to panic, how we would ever be able to return to Australia. It was time to get back and settled, so we had to come up with a plan!
The DFAT Registration - Your Ticket to Darwin
Even though strict, the Australian government is not heartless! We found out that it is possible to register with the Australian government on the DFAT Smart Traveller website for expatriate flights to Darwin.
Once registered, the embassy will contact you and send you information for the next available expatriate flight. You will get a special code to enable you to book the flight with Qantas to Darwin. The flight prices were surprisingly affordable at about 1,350 EUR per person. After a tense 30 minutes of crashing websites and credit card verifications, we were booked to fly from Frankfurt to Darwin only three weeks later! Eureka!
The Prep-Work
Once your flight is booked, the registration fun begins! Every entity involved in getting you back to Australia likes to get every morsel of personal information from you. So, get comfy and get cracking.
Start off with your registration for Qantas, continue with the PCR test registration in Frankfurt, then move on to the Australian Government travel declaration. From here, you fill in the Northern Territory travel registration, then the pre-travel health screen registration and let’s not forget the Howard Springs quarantine questionnaire! There might still be some minor apps to download and the latest travel information to read and double-check, but hey…
The Pre-Quarantine
We were made aware of the fact that we would have to be in Frankfurt two days before the flight departs. The PCR test would be taken at the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel at Frankfurt Airport. Therefore, we were advised that the hotel would offer special rates for everyone booked on the expatriate flight. It sounded like a good deal, so we decided to take them up on the offer. We didn’t quite realise that this was not an optional activity but a must! Luckily we did book the room!
When we checked into the hotel at 10 am, the receptionist advised that we had about three hours to do some shopping and go out. After 1 pm, the medical staff would make their rounds to the rooms to take the PCR tests. Once the test had been taken, we weren’t allowed to leave our room until the flight departed two days later! Oops, that was a bit of an unwelcome surprise to start quarantine 2 days early! Needless to say, we went nuts at the local supermarket and got provisions that would have fed an entire football team.
Welcome to Howard Springs!
And this is why I’d like to pay tribute to the quarantine facility in Howard Springs! Plenty of room and even a terrace to sit on! What more do you want?
This simple ex-mining camp, located about a 30-minute drive outside downtown Darwin, currently holds about 2000 of Australia’s finest nationals and residents! We arrived here at a specifically auspicious time because the Australian Olympians, who have just returned from Japan, are quarantining here too! Right now, as we speak! And before you ask – no, I haven’t seen any of them!
The Arrival
While the pre-departure registration is pretty intense, your actual trip will be free from any further painful admin. After a breezy 15-hour flight from Frankfurt, you finally arrive at Darwin airport! Here, you only show your Northern Territory registration, get a quick temperature check, dabble in a few customs formalities and done! Off you go to board your bus to Howard Springs!
On arrival at the quarantine facilities, the staff is obviously trained to make you feel as welcome as possible, nearly congratulating you for making it onto Australian soil. Thanks, Australia, for the appreciation!
You get a quick chat about the next steps, upcoming PCR tests and other events and then it’s on to the check-in. In the registration hall, you’ll then get equipped with your room key, a sim card (needs to be ordered beforehand, but free of charge) and you are soon off to your home for the next two weeks! Let the adventure begin!
The New Digs
Finally, the quarantine lifestyle is ready to commence. Let me introduce you to the accommodation at Howard Springs.
First of all, everyone has a single room, no matter if you come as a couple or even a family. Given that this camp was set up as work accommodation for miners, it makes sense that all rooms are set up for one person. Couples have their rooms allocated right next to each other and share their patch of the porch with tables and chairs. You can visit each other and hang out as much as you want – or not! Personally, I find this a healthy arrangement instead of being crammed together in a tiny space without the option to ever escape. Especially, if one or both of you work, it’s nice to have space and privacy to do so.
Each ‘tin shed’ block has 4 rooms next to each other, which means space for 2 couples. A walkway runs through the little ‘neighbourhood’ which separates the houses opposite each other by about 4 metres.
I think we hit the jackpot with our little home since we face a small green space with trees instead of another row of neighbours. Our porch also gets the sun in the mornings and lies in the shade in the hot afternoons. Perfect for a morning coffee in the sun! SCORE!
The room is not big, but functional and well designed. You have a single bed, a tv, a huge desk with a chair, a fridge, a hot water kettle and a small closet plus of course quite a spacious bathroom. The good people of Howard Springs also provide you with all basics you could possibly need! You’ll find two sets of towels, washing powder, some cleaning products and enough toilet paper for the next foreseeable future. You get instant coffee packs, tea, milk and even a small tube of sunscreen and sanitiser. All basic needs are covered for sure and with the daily delivered food, you technically won’t lack anything.
The New Lifestyle
So, what’s daily life like in Howards Springs? Obviously, 99% of the day is completely up to you to fill! The big daily events are the temperature check in the morning between 8 and 9 am and then the food delivery at about 4.30 pm. On days one, seven and 12, you also get a PCR test done.
Every few days we are allowed to use the laundry facilities to wash our clothes. We came, unfortunately, with a heap of clean clothes, so there was no need to do any laundry so far. Silly! I will report back on mission laundry next week for sure!
You are supposed to wear your mask as soon as you step out of the door but to be honest, most people don’t and even the staff kindly turns a blind eye to it. There is a 34-page long rule book in your welcome package with anything from helpful tips to a list of rules and fines should you break those rules.
Alcohol is not allowed on the premises. If you have brought your own, you’ll have to declare it on entry and only get it back once you leave. Imagine the havoc that would ensue if people could get boozed up to their heart’s content?! Entertaining, yet too much to manage!
Internet is, of course, available, unfortunately, though it’s not always the most stable.
Should you not be happy with your food supply or you forgot anything to pack, you have the option to order from two local supermarkets. Your goods will be delivered to your room by the Howard Springs staff during certain delivery times.
What To Do With Your Day?
I have to say, I didn’t really have a day where I was desperately bored. I try to stay fit with a bit of yoga and we bought a resistance band to shape those flabby muscles. I am kinda hoping that I’ll get out of here looking slimmer and trimmer than coming in. Let’s see!
Apart from keeping busy with the blog and the things that come with it, there is still plenty of other life admin stuff to organise to keep me busy. I have also tried myself with trying to learn some new skills, reading and online quizzes. Thanks to Netflix, I still have plenty of things to watch plus, there are, of course, always the normal tv channels. We try to make the mealtimes a big event. The only bummer is that if you want to eat your dinner warm, you’ll have to eat around 4.30 pm.
Is it like a Detention Centre...
In preparation for our return, the outlook on being stuck for 14 days in a place was the most daunting.
Of course, in recent times, we often have been confined to our homes in lockdown situations. But yet, it’s still your own four walls and in the end, you are still in charge of your own destiny.
Coming into this, I was sure I would hate every minute of it. Being locked up, not being able to walk daily, not having the option to leave, I imagined would be pure hell. And having spoken to friends who already completed the hotel quarantine in Sydney, it did sound really tough. Having to sit in a room with no window to open, no space to move, no choice in what food to eat was a pretty daunting outlook.
...or is it like a Holiday Park?
I can only thank my lucky stars that we have been brought to Darwin to spend our quarantine in Howard Springs. What a difference it makes to have your own room, a terrace to sit on and beautiful hot weather to enjoy. Sure, your longest walks are going to the garbage bin and the big excursion to the laundry, but I honestly can’t say that I hate it here. At all.
Maybe it’s the weather, maybe it’s because I am only halfway through day 5, but so far, I can think of a million worse places to be!
It’s also good to see other people and to imagine what their story might be. No doubt, each and every person in Howard Springs has a fascinating story to tell. What brought them here? Where do they come from? What’s their destination?
It's a Quirky Mix
If you ask me right now if it feels more like a holiday park or a detention centre – I guess it’s a quirky mix. Sometimes when you look out to your neighbour’s huts, seeing them sitting on their terraces having a meal, chatting away, you forget that it’s quarantine. It could honestly be a scene from an average campsite somewhere in Australia.
But then you get your food delivered by people dressed in hazmat suits, masks and gloves, bringing your food rations for the next 24 hours and you remember that you are in quarantine.
When the trip to the garbage bin 4 metres from your porch becomes your most exciting event of the day, you know this is not a good long term situation.
What do I want to get out of this?
I would like to make – or keep – this a positive experience! What an adventure! Maybe in a different way than your usual adventure definition, but a chance to make the most of it. See if you can manage to be stuck without getting frustrated. See if you can set up a satisfying routine to make the most of your day. See if you can lose some weight by sticking to a workout and regular meals. See how you feel being away from temptations in terms of unhealthy food and booze.
It sure is an interesting time in here and a bit of a social experiment. I’d like to see it as the perfect slow travel trip, where I don’t have to be anywhere but right here.
What to Expect Next Week?
Since I am ‘enjoying’ quarantine as we speak, I’ll be a true expert for all quarantine hacks by next week. Join us to get into the nitty-gritty of quarantine life – what do you need, what should you bring, best utensils to have, what’s it really been like…
I hope to see you again next week. If you enjoyed this post, give it a thumbs up and subscribe to receive updates on our next posts.
Thanks for joining us on this journey and until next time!
