Daily commutes and errands are rarely fun, but from this weekend Tomisina Ahwang will be dependent on fine weather and a tinnie due to the suspension of a Torres Strait ferry service.
Ms Ahwang normally boards a ferry with about 10 other people each morning to travel from her home on Hammond Island to the region's main service centre on Thursday Island, where she works as a school administration officer.
But rising costs have forced the island's only ferry operator to put the service on hold from this weekend until the school year begins in late January.
"We're coming into our wet season, so my concern is those people who need to travel from Hammond to TI [Thursday Island] won't be able to travel," Ms Ahwang said.
"We've got people with chronic diseases who need access to health services on TI, the chemists [and] to do their shopping."
Ms Ahwang is one of the fortunate few with the ability to work from home and access to a private dinghy to make the 10-minute crossing to Thursday Island.
But she said it would mean her husband, who has health issues, would need to take her across often "unpredictable" waters.
Subsidies for school term only
Ferry operator Torres Strait Tours receives state government subsidies during the school term to take students to Thursday Island but those subsidies do not extend to servicing the general population.
Director Sandie Edwards said that without a subsidy she had no option but to make a "difficult" decision.
"For three years, we have provided the service at our cost," she said.
"The costs have escalated hugely in the past six months alone."
The rising cost of fuel, which had hit $3 per litre in the Torres Strait, was a major factor, as were insurance, freight and the need for fly-in mechanics.
"All of those things add so much to the cost of living up here," Ms Edwards said.
Airfares rising to 'unreal' levels
On the mainland, remote communities in Cape York were also struggling with transport challenges.
Regional airline Skytrans, which exclusively services most of the peninsula and Torres Strait, has cancelled some services due to a wave of COVID-19 infections.
A group of Aboriginal elders from Lockhart River were this week forced to stay several days longer in Cairns when their flight home was cancelled.
Wuthathi elder Johnson Chippendale said it had become "very, very hard for people from Cape York to travel to Cairns" because of frequent cancellations and rising airfares.
"[Skytrans] should look at putting on extra flights or dropping the price," he said.
"The airfare from Cairns to Bamaga, or to Lockhart, it's unreal, five hundred and something dollars, one-way."
Air services under pressure
Skytrans chief executive officer Alan Milne said the airline's policy was to offer accommodation, transfers and food allowances to customers unable to return home due to cancellations.
He said while the airline had "lots of contingency planning in place", a shortage of pilots occasionally forced it to cancel services.
Meanwhile, a decline in corporate and government travel during the holiday period meant demand for Cape York services tended to "soften" just as most domestic routes became busier.
Mr Milne said the airline was also under pressure from rising costs.
"If we need fuel, for example, in Aurukun it costs the fuel companies an enormous amount of money to get the fuel up there, which, of course, they have to pass through to the end user, which, of course, we have to pass through to our customers so that we can make it a viable service," he said.
"If we have an aircraft break down in a remote location, then it's very expensive and time consuming.
"We work very closely with the Queensland government and [the Transport and Main Roads Department] to make sure that we can get people moving as quickly and most efficiently as we can."
Premier's plan to listen
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk visited Thursday Island in September and subsequently called a summit to address cost-of-living stress.
It was due to be held on Thursday Island this week but sorry business (the mourning period following the death of a family member) in the community prompted the local council to request it be postponed until the new year.
A government spokesman said a new date would be set as soon as possible.
"I'm hoping the government, when they come up to see the issues we face up here, can take them on board and have an understanding of the frustration and difficulties," Ms Edwards said.
Ms Ahwang said she wanted to see more support for all ferry services in the Torres Strait.
"These are difficult times, we understand that, but maintaining those vessels and ensuring the safety is of paramount importance to people," she said.
"On Hammond [Island], we have one little, privately-owned shop but you can just imagine the astronomical prices those small businesses have to deal with at their level."
Labor Member for Cook Cynthia Lui and the Torres Strait Regional Authority were contacted for comment.
