For one NSW couple the coronavirus pandemic not only stopped their wedding and plans to move overseas but also left them trapped in Victoria during the state’s harsh lockdown.
“My fiance Shaun and I were meant to get married in May, and then move to the UK for work but all our plans failed because of COVID,” Jessica Robinson old NCA NewsWire on Sunday.
Ms Robinson and her partner Shaun Duncan, from Rocky Point on the NSW Central Coast, got work in Victoria after their plans were disrupted.
But the tough border restrictions meant they’ve been stuck in the state since July.
“We never thought this would happen for so long,” Ms Robinson said.
“We thought it would just be for six weeks and we weren’t too worried because we’re from NSW as well.”
They even tried to get an exemption to return to NSW as Mr Duncan needed surgery but never heard back from the government.
However the pair are finally going home after spending the last three months living in a caravan and travelling around regional Victoria.
The NSW-Victorian border will be open from midnight on Monday morning following an announcement by Premier Gladys Berejiklian.
“We’re really excited especially to be back for Christmas and our families are really excited to see us,” Ms Robinson said.
And while her fiance Shaun said they were “very lucky” to have been able to travel and see the state they were both eager to be getting home.
Mr Duncan said they were going to start planning their wedding again too.
They weren’t the only ones waiting to head across the border.
Victorian couple Dale Harrigan and her husband Les were also waiting to get across to NSW to visit their daughter and grandchildren in Sydney.
Her daughter was initially meant to come in July but the border closure between the states stopped that.
“This is an opportunity to fix that up,” Ms Harrigan said.
The husband and wife were travelling from Safety Beach on the Mornington Peninsula in their motorhome which they normally did several times a year.
The couple, were still debating whether they would aim to get across at midnight or wait until morning, Ms Harrigan said.
But they’re planning on celebrating the holidays with their whole family together in Victoria.
“At least we can get together for Christmas,” she said.
Speaking in Albury before the lifting of the NSW-Victoria border at 12.01am, Ms Berejiklian said she was confident in her state’s strategy to live in a COVID-safe way.
“We’ve had the most practice at it and I can appreciate that some of the smaller states haven’t,” she told reporters.
NSW on Sunday recorded its 15th day of no new local coronavirus cases