An outback chef has been separated from his family for months after the coronavirus pandemic shut down travel.
Madushka Dilshan Perera hails from Sri Lanka where his wife and newborn baby girl remain.
Madushka or Max as everyone knows him at the Birdcage Hotel in Longreach is yet to meet his baby girl.
"It's an amazing experience when you first see your baby," Mr Perera said.
"It'd be good to be there and hold her, but at least I'm seeing her through the internet.
"I was really excited but also really afraid because we haven't gone through this process before, she's our firstborn."
Spirit of the outback
Moving to Australia has been a lifelong dream for Max, and after stints in New Zealand and Dubai a chance to move down under came up.
An opportunity the chef couldn't pass up, even if it meant moving to a town he'd never heard of.
"I checked on Google, and instantly I said yeah I'll accept the offer," Mr Perera said.
While settling into the flight from Singapore to Brisbane, Max got a taste of what his new home would look like through the inflight video featuring Longreach.
“I was like oh my god that's where I'm going."
That comment piqued the interest of fellow traveller and Longreach local Tony Martin who struck up a conversation with Max and made sure Max's passage through to Longreach went smoothly.
"He was helping me in the Brisbane Airport because I didn't know how to catch the domestic flight," Mr Perera said.
"I was looking around everywhere and I saw him again and he helped me."
Feeling at home in the outback
Max is loving life in outback Queensland despite feeling wary before the move.
"The people they are really nice to us," Mr Perera said.
"Because I come from a different country, I thought the situation would be different.
"If I go to a shop the next day if I go there, they recognise me, and they say hi, so I really like this city.
International travel is still heavily restricted, and Australia's current migrant intake is effectively zero, so Mr Perera will have to wait to be united with his family.
"It's pretty hard because the situation back home is not good," Mr Perera said.
"I'm working hard over here to help them over there.
"I can't wait to bring them over here actually.
"It's a small town, but it's really good."
