Bracknell backpackers return home after Bali coronavirus drama

Brother and sister Louis and Kathryn Hayes, from Birch Hill, and friend Marli Holland, from Sandhurst, found themselves stranded in Bali when tighter measures on flying were introduced in South East Asia to limit the spread of coronavirus.

READ MORE: Bracknell trio stranded in Bali

Flights out of the Indonesian island were repeatedly being cancelled and aviation chiefs were turning desperate Brits away from airports.

Seats on the few flights out of Bali that were available had sky-rocketed in price to thousands of pounds.

But the trio are now back in the UK after the British Embassy in Jakarta was able to secure three seats on a plane out of the island -- but these were only available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Luckily the group managed to secure the seats, although the cost came to an eye-watering £890 -- a “ridiculous amount of money”, as Kathryn told the News.

(Kathryn Hayes)

But the situation in Bali meant the group had no option but to splash the cash.

Kathryn added: “It was getting really bad.

“I think I wouldn’t have paid that much for a flight if everything was still open, but they literally closed everything.

“They’d closed roads from near and around the airport, they shut all the boats, we couldn’t really get anywhere.

“It was like a ghost town.

READ MORE: Carer's car egged by vandals

“I don’t know what we would have done if we’d have had to stay there.”

The group did not tell anyone they were coming home because they did not want to “jinx it”, as every flight they had tried to book previously had been cancelled and hundreds of Brits still stranded in Bali are also struggling to find a way back.

(Louis Hayes)

The route home included catching a connecting flight in Hong Kong which made things tricky for the group as the city had closed its borders to non-residents.

They were greeted at the airport (which “looked like a hospital”, according to Kathryn) by a group of “20-30” people wearing hazmat suits.

The three backpackers were then extensively screened before being forced to isolate in one room for three hours.

After several hours on the last leg of the journey, eventually, the trio found their way back to Britain.

READ MORE: Air ambulance crews in desperate need of protective equipment

UK officials did not tell the trio to self-isolate upon returning home, but the group is doing so anyway.

Marli told the News: “I am glad we got home considering how much we spent on several flights trying to come home.

“I like the home comforts of being back but not being able to leave the house seems odd, especially after travelling for 2 months and doing what you want when you want!”

(Marli Holland)

Kathryn added: “I just feel so relieved because I genuinely thought I was going to be stuck out there for months and it’s getting worse every day.

“I would rather be at home with my family than the other side of the world!”