Northlander Bou Hauraki (far right), based in Melbourne, hasn't seen his Whangārei whānau in person in almost three years despite attempts to. Photo / Supplied
Northlander Bou Hauraki (far right), based in Melbourne, hasn't seen his Whangārei whānau in person in almost three years despite attempts to. Photo / Supplied
The third time's a charm for Northlander Bou Hauraki who has spent nearly three years attempting to venture home to reunite with his Whangārei whānau.
The 31-year-old Melbourne based Kiwi isn't looking for a sob story – he gets it, we're in a pandemic.
"We've seen what Covid has doneto people. New Zealand is only just starting to see it. We've been through the deaths and overwhelming hospitals and trying to call for an ambulance, with two to three-hour delays.
"We understand a little bit more about why we can't just go home," he said.
Instead, Hauraki wanted to share his story to show how much this week's border opening for Australia based Kiwis means to those oceans apart.
A feeling that will soon be felt among Kiwis worldwide at midnight on Friday after the Government brought forward plans to reopen international borders.
Fully vaccinated New Zealanders anywhere in the world will be able to return home without having to self-isolate. Unvaccinated Kiwis will still be required to complete a MIQ stay.
Bou Hauraki is counting down the days until he is reunited with his Whangārei family, pictured here. Photo / Supplied
A two and a half year wait to touch down on New Zealand soil ends today for Hauraki.
It's his third attempt at getting home – with the burst bubble, cancelled flights, delayed reopenings hampering his efforts each step of the way.
"Until I'm on that flight I'm just keeping my expectations very low," he said.
Hauraki, a Centre for Multicultural Youth youth worker, made the solo move to Melbourne in 2018 for opportunities more readily available than if he stayed in the motherland.
And since then has found love.
"We've been together for three years and my partner hasn't even been able to meet my family except over video calls.
"We're looking forward to travelling home and introducing my family to my life over here."
A big part of Bou Hauraki's excitement to come home is to introduce his partner (pictured) to his family and showcase the beauty of Northland. Photo / Supplied
While some may not appreciate what a big deal that is, for Hauraki the fact his and his family's lives have been kept at arm's length from one another by the pandemic has been tough.
"The whole thing has been really hard, our family is very tight. I've had family members pass away ... it really hits home," he said.
"Usually in normal times I'd be on the next flight out but I haven't been able to do that. Having to cope with that loss while being quite isolated was really hard."
An experience made worse as Melbourne endured the world's longest Covid-19 lockdown of 262 days, or nearly nine months, finally ending in October last year.
"The hardest thing was seeing New Zealanders living a relatively normal life. Going to nightclubs, the beach – we haven't been able to do that," Hauraki said.
"We had things like a curfew, you couldn't leave your home from 9pm to 6am. Towards the end we had a radius of 5km to 10km that we had to stay within."
Despite all this, he said he coped "quite well" but he knew many who hadn't "emotionally, financially, physically, mentally".
Calls with family certainly helped and reconnecting with whānau and old school friends based in Melbourne also acted as a balm.
"I catch up with Mum on an almost daily basis over messenger. We started doing Zoom and realised we wanted to learn about our culture and language."
So he, his dad, and his brother-in-law began to do weekly te reo Māori language lessons as well as learn more about their culture's history online together.
"It was a good chance to stay connected and grounded."
Family aside, Hauraki says he cannot wait to showcase the Northland beaches to his partner and get his much-loved hit of kina.
