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What is New Zealand like after covid?   Australia/New Zealand/Pacific

Started Nov-6 by Shrinking Shorty (TOILETHEA1); 126 views.
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From: Shrinking Shorty (TOILETHEA1)

Nov-6

I Visited New Zealand After the Country Dropped Its COVID-19 Restrictions — Here's What It's Like

On a recent trip to New Zealand, after pandemic restrictions had released its grasp on the country, I found that the one-of-a-kind experiences that filled my days were of course, incredible but surprisingly, normal.

 

In the past, this wouldn’t even be worth noting. But for more than two years, New Zealand was known for having some of the most restrictive border rules in the world, locking down and letting hardly anyone in. In May, the country finally opened to the world with strict protocols in place before dropping nearly all pandemic-related rules in September, no longer requiring vaccines, tests, or even masks.

“It's been an interesting transition and somewhat delayed behind the rest of the world. Thankfully, we're at the other side now where the restrictions have, more or less, been removed,” James Mackay, the lodge manager at The Farm at Cape Kidnappers, told me over breakfast. “International travel has returned, which is fantastic for us and New Zealand tourism as a whole. And I think people have, by and large, sort of moved past COVID and they want to return to that sense of normality.”

This month, the country went a step further, dropping a final COVID-19-related travel rule, no longer requiring people to complete a traveler declaration before coming.

My stay at The Farm at Cape Kidnappers, a 6,000-acre luxury lodge in Hawke’s Bay, was filled with exploring the rolling green hills and following families of sheep, and drinks and canapés at the lodge.

More at

https://www.travelandleisure.com/new-zealand-post-covid-travel-opening-6743801

 
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