Cruising in Oz - with COVID

[Rach3]

A cruise line docks in Sydney with 800 COVID cases:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/13/australi ... 693bc7595b

[Rach3]

NYT today , in part :

"Australia has cleared the way for the tennis star Novak Djokovic to seek his 22nd Grand Slam title at the upcoming Australian Open, lifting a three-year ban from the country that was imposed in January when he was deported over his failure to be vaccinated against Covid.

Officials confirmed on Tuesday that the cancellation of his visa — a decision made by Australia’s previous government, on the eve of the last Open — had been revoked by Immigration Minister Andrew Giles. That leaves Mr. Djokovic free to apply for a new visa, which is expected to be quickly approved.

The decision, previously reported by The Guardian, reflects how much has changed since Australia in July dropped its requirement that visitors be vaccinated for the coronavirus. And it shows just how much its tennis fans, in particular, want to get back to normal.

The Open is Australia’s premier international sporting event. For years, its organizers have worked to make it especially player-friendly, to compete with older, more respected majors like Wimbledon — and the messy detention and deportation of Mr. Djokovic, who had said he believed that a prior Covid infection would be enough to exempt him from Australia’s vaccination requirement, did not help."

[barney]

The Open is nothing like Australia's top sporting event. The AFL grand final is, followed by the Melbourne Cup horse race ("the race that stops a nation"). Tennis never stops congratulating itself.
PS: both based in Melbourne, as is the tennis open.