The toll of the pandemic on local industry will be felt for a long time.
Her business at Moama Waters has been building strongly since it opened in 2012, and even though recent months have been tough, things were starting to look up.
And then the border shut without warning.
“We never thought we'd see a situation like on New Year's,” she said.
“It was a panic. Our phones are ringing off the hooks, the TV is on trying to listen to announcements, it was so loud and busy and we still didn't know what we were supposed to do.
“People simply packed up and had to leave. They had no choice. It was horrible.
“That night we went down to between five and 10 per cent. A few stayed that night as they didn't feel it was safe to go, so they went the next day. We lost almost everyone on site.”
There was no movement from the Victorian Government for close to a week, before the traffic light system was introduced on Monday, January 11.
But Mrs Perry said the decision to move the border to ‘amber’ would have almost no impact on increasing occupancy.
“We have regulars who come up from around Victoria who simply can't do it now.
“They can't go for a day of shopping, they can't take their kids on a paddle steamer, they can't do what they would normally do on a holiday and that's a massive deterrent.
“Our bookings for Australia Day are starting to fall as people can't run the risk or justify getting tested and spending those extra days in isolation.”
For Mrs Perry, the long-term ability to pay her staff is priority number one.
“We've been fairly quiet, there has been reduced hours for our staff. JobKeeper was fantastic, but like a lot of businesses we got a bit of income back when the borders opened, and now it's gone again.
“When you have people employed who you need to pay, it's devastating. We employed six new staff for the busy season who we are trying to keep for if things come back, that's the toughest part.”
And yet, despite it all, Mrs Perry considers herself one of the lucky ones.
“We've had a few people choose to ride it out,” she said.
“Majority of our bookings are repeat business, so we are fairly booked for Christmas next year. A lot of people have carried over their deposits, even the money for their full bookings, saying they want to help us. We are so grateful for them.
“So many people are committing to coming back, and that gives us hope. Right now we have some people here. We told one group they would have to isolate upon return and couldn't cross the border.
“They responded, ‘You've got a supermarket and a bottle shop, we will be just fine'. That meant a lot to us.”
There are sprinklings of similar stories within many of our local businesses.
But the truth remains for Mrs Perry and her team, as well as for so many others, that without a green bubble, there is no end in sight.
“We are talking 90 per cent of our bookings being from Victoria,” Mrs Perry said.
“If we are going to start to recover and get going again, we need that bubble to be made green. It's essential.”
Over the next couple of weeks, the Riverine Herald will bring you stories of some of our operators and the impact the border closure has had on them.
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