âNothing was going to stop us coming backâ: Mallacoota booming after year from hell
âNothing was going to stop us coming backâ: Mallacoota booming after year from hell
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For Terry and Tony Sheehan, the passing of 11 months and the cherished memories of 35 peaceful East Gippsland summers had helped repress the sounds, smells and visions of the day Mallacoota burned. until they returned to the blackened trees.
The remnants of the black summer bushfires by the Princes Highway on their annual passage from Keysborough last month stirred memories of New Yearâs Eve morning, when the couple, both in their 70s and with health issues, fled Mallacoota s wall of flames in their boat and watched from the lake as homes exploded and the air glowed red.
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The indefinite ban on international travel and enthusiastic Melburnians fanning through the regions after months of lockdown are driving a two-tier tourism recovery that may deliver the best summer ever to parts of the state while Melbourne endures one of its worst.
The city relies on foreign and interstate visitors for more than 70 per cent of its tourism spend and its woes have been worsened by the ongoing uncertainty in the events sector and a 30 per cent crowd limit on the Boxing Day test, according to the Victorian Tourism Industry Council.
Melbourne’s recovery has been further cast into uncertainty by coronavirus outbreaks in Sydney which are shutting down Christmas travel between the nation’s two biggest cities.