AN ANIMAL lover who swapped East Lothian for a year Down Under has been left stranded in Australia.

Lucy Hall spent a year planning the trip of a lifetime, where she hoped to work with an animal charity.

However, less than a month after arriving in Australia, the former Dunbar Grammar School pupil found herself without a job and unable to fly home due to the coronavirus outbreak.

She said: “Things were going great! I managed to find a job within the first week of being here so I was off to a good start.

“I had found numerous charity events and environmental gatherings I wanted to take part in and have applied to volunteer in an animal welfare charity shop.

“I was really happy and content.

“The coronavirus has had a massive effect on my time here.

“I am very lucky that I have a safe place to stay but I have lost my job due to it and so now have no way of earning money.

“Like the rest of the world, we are now progressing into lockdown here and everything is closing so I cannot partake in any of the things I had planned or go anywhere I had wanted to go.

“Much like thousands of other travellers, my big plans have come to a complete halt and I’m doing the complete opposite of what I had imagined I’d be doing.”

Lucy, 25, who is living in Chelsea Heights, in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, started planning her trip to Australia a year ago.

She has family in the country and planned to travel around Australia before deciding whether to return home to Scotland or to extend her visa.

Lucy said: “I have an uncle in Australia so I’ve always liked the idea of coming to visit since I was young but my final decision on coming was made in April 2019; this is when I purchased my visa!

“My original plan was to travel around Australia and work while I also did some charity/animal welfare-based volunteering.

“I raised some money before coming here to allow me to volunteer doing things such as beach clear ups, conservation work and volunteering at animal reserves.

“I was looking forward to meeting new people and potentially building a life out here.”

Now, without a job, she is unable to earn money or buy a plane ticket back to her home on Dunbar’s East Links Road.

She stressed there were many people much worse off than herself and that she at least had family taking care of her.

However, she was concerned about her family at home and how they were coping with the coronavirus.

She said: “My plans are being put on hold for now whilst I figure out what my next steps are.

“My main concerns are being sensible and staying safe whilst ensuring my family back home are coping as well.

“I had a flight booked to come back to Scotland last week but it unfortunately got cancelled due to airports closing their doors to non-nationals.

“I guess Australia has been impacted much like any other country at the moment.

“Everything is slowly shutting down, people are losing their jobs and there are more and more rules being put in place each day to minimise the risk. It’s a very uncertain and frustrating time for travellers trying to get home.”