As the hours counted down before Queensland shut its borders to those in NSW and the ACT due to coronavirus restrictions, there was a mad rush at Canberra Airport to get into the Sunshine State before it became closed to those south of the Tweed from 1am on Saturday.
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Additional flights were put on for the Canberra-to-Brisbane route for those making a last-minute dash north, some charging more than $900 for a one-way ticket.
Of the 34 flights that departed Canberra Airport on Friday, 18 were to Brisbane or Coolangatta.
The border closure came following an announcement from Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Wednesday that the state would be shut off to NSW and ACT residents, due to the increasing number of coronavirus cases in Victoria and NSW.
While the ACT had no active COVID-19 cases at the time of the border ban announcement, Canberra was declared a coronavirus hotspot.
The Queensland government said they had reports of NSW residents in hotspot areas getting around border restrictions by flying in via Canberra.
"We cannot risk a second wave. We have to act decisively and today we have acted quickly," Ms Palaszczuk said.
"We have to put Queenslanders first."
The decision to shut the border to NSW and the ACT just weeks after it had reopened forced many to quickly change their travel plans.
Among then was Amelia Donaldson, who was planning on flying back to Brisbane on Monday after she had spent the past week helping her partner move to Canberra.
She had to spend an extra $470 on top of her original fare to change her flight.
"I had planned to come down and live in Canberra [with my partner] in a few months' time," Ms Donaldson said.
"The hope was to go back and forth to see each other.
"It's looking like I'll have to quit my job in the next few weeks and move to Canberra sooner with no job here, but I have to be across the border before anything else changes again."
Fellow traveller Robert Muir, who was booked on a 4.30pm Qantas flight to Brisbane, said he had a feeling further border closures were coming after escalating virus cases.
The locum vet, who travels between cities for work, said he was going to Queensland as more job opportunities were further north compared to the ACT.
"I've been in Canberra for the last year but I didn't want to get stuck in Canberra and there's more work in Queensland," Mr Muir said.
"I had a flight on August 10 but then when the border announcement was made, I cancelled it and got on a new flight."
Canberra family Victoria and Michael Keogh, along with their two children Harper and Harry, had planned a week-long holiday for the Gold Coast to begin on Monday, but had to bring things forward two days due to the border changes.
"With all of the uncertainty, we hadn't planned the holiday too far ahead," Mr Keogh said.
"It was a bit harsh that Canberra was lumped in with NSW when Canberra has no cases."
Andrew Brown
I've been part of the Canberra Times since 2016, after reporting at local papers in Sydney's north-west. Since starting at the paper I've had stints on the Sunday Times, on the early morning breaking news round, and now as a general reporter, covering the ins and outs of anything and everything happening in Canberra, with a focus on health.
I've been part of the Canberra Times since 2016, after reporting at local papers in Sydney's north-west. Since starting at the paper I've had stints on the Sunday Times, on the early morning breaking news round, and now as a general reporter, covering the ins and outs of anything and everything happening in Canberra, with a focus on health.
