Rotorua's Kerry Anderson, who now lives in Perth, was looking forward to seeing family and friends before her flight was cancelled due to Covid-19. Photo / Supplied
Rotorua's Kerry Anderson, who now lives in Perth, was looking forward to seeing family and friends before her flight was cancelled due to Covid-19. Photo / Supplied
The latest outbreak of Covid-19 in Australia has wreaked havoc on travel plans to and from New Zealand.
Bay of Plenty woman Kerry Anderson, who has lived in Western Australia for the last eight years, was due to get on a plane to Auckland at 7.45pm on Sunday.
From thereshe planned to fly to Rotorua, where she grew up, and visit friends and family throughout the region.
It would have been her first visit to New Zealand for more than two years.
Rotorua's Kerry Anderson, who now lives in Perth, was looking forward to seeing family and friends before her flight was cancelled due to Covid-19. Photo / Supplied
Australia's Covid battle has significantly worsened in recent days, as multiple states and territories respond to new positive cases and expanding contacts.
As a result, the transtasman bubble allowing travel between New Zealand and Australia was paused, throwing many travel plans into turmoil.
Quarantine-free travel between all Australian states and territories and New Zealand was paused at 10.30pm on Friday and will remain paused until 11.59pm today, when it will be reviewed again.
While frustrated, Anderson told the NZME she knew the risks when booking her flights and understood the New Zealand Government was doing all it could to keep the country Covid-free.
"I try to go to New Zealand at least every second year, or every year when I can, but obviously with Covid I haven't been able to for a while," she said.
"I was trying to play it safe and wait it out with this bubble, to see what would happen. I saw an opportunity because I didn't see any borders being closed or drama happening - it seemed safe to book a flight now."
Unfortunately for Anderson, her timing could not have been worse. Now, she does not know when she will return to New Zealand. Her last visit was March 2019.
"Those Covid cases came out and it didn't work out. I have loads of family and friends in Rotorua, they're the main reason I go back, I miss them.
"It's not a great feeling but at the same time, I've always supported all the decisions Jacinda [Ardern] has made for the country. I think she does a great job - when I found out about my flight being cancelled I definitely wasn't complaining, I knew the risks."
Anderson said the things she missed most about New Zealand, other than friends and whānau, were the food and the green scenery.
Her first stop when she eventually arrives? A bakery for a proper New Zealand pie.
"Obviously the seafood as well, fish and chips, it's definitely not the same in Australia. Just the green as well, the smell of home and getting back to your roots - it just feels like home and makes your heart happy when you touch the ground."
She spent two hours on hold to Air New Zealand on Sunday, trying to sort out her next move, but understood they would be dealing with a lot of similar calls.
For now, she is back at work where - despite being two hours south of Perth her employers are following the state-imposed mask use guidelines - she awaits further news on the bubble.
There was one silver lining, however.
As a massive New South Wales fan, Anderson was able to watch State of Origin game two - which she would have missed while flying to New Zealand - and enjoy a historic win by her side in Brisbane, clinching the 2021 series.
Yesterday Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern indicated the transtasman bubble would resume shortly with the exception of New South Wales which would remain paused.
There were no new Covid-19 cases announced in the Ministry of Health's 1pm update yesterday.
A recap on where each affected state and territory in Australia is at, as of 1pm Monday:
NSW:
Total cases have risen to 102, and the Greater Sydney, Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Wollongong and Shell harbour areas have been placed in lockdown until July 7. The state recorded a further 30 new locally acquired cases today and that number is expected to increase over the next few days.
QLD: Queensland has recorded three new community cases, with authorities believing that one of those may have visited several venues in Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast while infectious. The person is believed to have the UK Covid variant, rather than the highly contagious Delta strain currently spreading through Sydney. As a result, the one person per two square metre rule restriction has been reinstated.
NT: The territory has recorded four new cases of the virus after a miner was infected during his stay at a quarantine hotel in Brisbane. Initial testing has led authorities to believe the latest infections are linked to the Delta variant and as a result Darwin, Palmerston and Litchfield have been placed into a 48-hour lockdown.
WA: The state has recorded one new case in a traveller returning to Perth from Sydney. As a result, the state has reimposed mask use rules and gathering restrictions on people in the Perth and Peel regions.
