After 23 days trapped in coronavirus lockdown in South America, Tamworth couple Sharon and Allan Stuart are coming home.
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The pair were last month trapped in Peru by a national lockdown.
Since March 16 the nation has been under martial law after the Peruvian president announced the start of a national emergency in a desperate bid to halt the spread of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.
With just a few hours' notice, a holiday of a lifetime turned into a nightmare as the Stuarts found themselves unable to get flights out before the borders closed.
But on Tuesday the Tamworth couple received confirmation they had two seats booked on a Commonwealth-chartered Qantas flight to depart April 8 Peru time (tomorrow Australian time).
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After several failed attempts at escape and cancelled flights, they're set to get home in just hours
Sharon Stuart said the first thing they will do when they get back to Tamworth is "hug our children!"
"We have missed them so much, they have been a great source of comfort to us," she said.
"I think the first thing my husband will do is take a ride on his quad bike and check out his garden - trees, shrubs, lawn etc.
"We've heard about the good rains since we've been away."
But the journey home won't end with the flight out of Lima. The Stuarts will land in Melbourne and spend a fortnight in quarantine in Victoria.
The couple said they don't mind. "We are just glad to be on Australian soil. You won't hear any complaints from us," said Sharon Stuart.
Four Qantas crew contracted COVID-19 on a previous repatriation flight in March, while ferrying home Australians trapped in Chile.
The Guardian Australia reports the national carrier is having trouble recruiting cabin staff for the Peru mission, with the flight attendants' union saying staff fear contracting the virus.
Hundreds of Australians escaped on a private flight chartered by Chimu Adventures - but with tickets going at $5500 per seat and the flight enormously overbooked, the Stuarts weren't among them.
The Australian government last week confirmed it had organised two repatriation flights this week, with a ticket price of just $2500.
Sharon Stuart said the epic journey to safety will one day be just a family story.
