“All is well,” says expatriate Zacharias Vanikiotis, who spent 40 days with his wife Irene until they finally arrived at their home in Melbourne on 14 April.
He travelled to Greece in early February, following his wife who had left earlier to be close to their daughter who was facing a serious issue.
Fortunately, things went well for the family and the couple chose to bring their travel date forward to 25 March as coronavirus concerns grew worldwide.
On the morning of their departure, with the suitcases ready and the passports in hand, they received a message that all Etihad flights would be cancelled until 8 April.
“We called the Australian Embassy in Greece and they told us to book with Qatar, which was still operating flights to Australia,” says Mr Vanikiotis.
Those tickets however would cost the couple a total of $18,000 on way.
Mr Vanikiotis contacted the Australian Embassy again and was provided the help he so desperately needed.
“There was a great lady at the embassy, Maria Vassileiou, who took a lot of time to help us. She booked our tickets because we didn’t have access to the internet, and even offered us the cheapest flight out of the very expensive ones and we finally paid $5,100 for two people. She cited returning home as the reason for this, which resulted in a significant discount of $7,500. It is good that others who may be in the same position as us know this.”
After landing in Melbourne on 31 March, Mr and Mrs Vanikiotis were ordered into a 14-day quarantine at Melbourne’s Crown Promenade hotel.
On 14 April the couple finally made it back to their own home.
“Home sweet home as they say,” laughs Mr Vanikiotis.
Mr Vanikiotis’ positive spirit despite the headache of a difficult trip shines through.
“Everything is nice with good company,” he says referring to his time in quarantine.
