We’d been living on the road in Western Australia for just over 6 months before we decided it was finally time to get back on track with our original plans of moving to New Zealand. It all happened really quickly. One minute we were out eating delicious lunches at the wineries in Margaret River and the next Tiff got a call to say there was a 10 week job waiting for her in Auckland. It was a whirlwind of activity for a week or two. Trying to see all our friends and family before we flew out was really hard. We simply didn’t have enough time. Tiff ended up having to get a new passport, too! We got ourselves all sorted and organised just in time. Meanwhile, we had the fun of organising international travel during a pandemic. So let’s delve into that a little and let you know how fun it was to travel and quarantine during the pandemic.
Be sure to check out our Instagram to follow all our adventures!
Nathan was problem #1
Normally, as Aussies, you don’t need a visa to travel or work in New Zealand. However, the Pandemic closed all the borders, meaning that you needed not only a visa but a good reason to enter the country. Tiff is a Radiographer, as a health care worker, in a field that is understaffed and dealing directly with the pandemic, they granted her entry, no questions asked. Nathan, on the other hand, had to prove that he was in a committed relationship with Tiff to make sure he wasn’t getting into the country unnecessarily. This, believe it or not, was difficult to prove.
As a Nomadic couple without a marriage certificate or any joint accounts, we were worried there wouldn’t be enough proof of our almost 10yr relationship. We briefly considered driving to a courthouse and getting married just to make it easier! This was before we realised a last-minute marriage certificate would probably hinder, rather than help the situation… Turns out our joint Instagram travel blog The Road Less Written (maybe you’ve heard of it ;) ) was all the proof we needed! Photos of us together on various adventures actually helped to bring legitimacy to the relationship in the eyes of border security. Never mind the fact that we have been together for almost 10 years… Other things we used to prove our relationship were wedding invites, 21st invites and a lovely written document we had to provide detailing the significant events in our lives together. That was a late night spent recalling dates of numerous things from the first time we met each other’s parents, to what overseas trips we took together. If you ever have to prove your relationship for a visa, let us know cause we definitely have some tips!
It seems like there’s always something right around the corner
We thought that partnership hurdle would be the worst of our Pandemic travel experience, but we were very wrong. One requirement for entering New Zealand, and almost every other country at that point, was to have a negative COVID test 72hrs prior to your departure. We got our tests done about 70hrs prior to the flight and got the results from our Doctor the day before. All good, right? Now just imagine our shock when getting to the airport. We were told this wasn’t good enough. There was no time on the results, just a date. Given that we had it done so close to the 72hr mark, there was no way to tell if we had it too early or not.
Tiff’s entire family was there to send us off and we all collectively freaked out! Tiff had to call the pathology practice that did our test to get them to email us a copy of the results with the time on it. A very stressful hour passed with a back and forth between different people at the practice, trying to get someone who would do this for us. As a health care worker, Tiff managed to pull this off. Most pathology services, if not all of them, will not release results to the public. So we are very lucky Tiff had a previous working relationship with this practice. It was still an ordeal though and way more stress than either of us wanted.
We still feel scarred by the experience. Thinking that we had planned so much and worked so hard for this opportunity only to miss our flight and subsequently our room in hotel quarantine for want of a time stamp on our COVID results. The one thing that has stuck with us, Tiff particularly, from the entire experience is what her dad said to her after we checked our bags and made our way to the boarding gate. “If you can get through that, you can get through anything!” And maybe it sounds a little dramatic recalling it all back now, but it really felt like it was the end of our dreams if we couldn’t get on that flight.
By the time we actually got the results, Tiff’s mask was saturated with tears and she really was a mess. This, however, actually worked in our favour, as our bags came in well over the allowed 23kg for the flight. The airport staff took pity on us and didn’t charge us for the 2 over weight bags. Literally, the only time crying has gotten us anywhere! We learnt a good lesson from that. If you have too much baggage, have a good cry and it might just get lighter.
Quarantine? More like mandated relaxation!
After all that stress, the 10 days in hotel quarantine was looking pretty good! We needed some rest before starting work. Let us just say that we must have gotten really lucky with the hotel we got for quarantine. Honestly, it was amazing! We got to stay in a hotel for free, got our pick of meals delivered to our door 3 times a day, and snacks, plus there was a dishwasher! We also got drinks with each meal and Valentine’s dinner was a very fancy three course event. You could even get a bottle of wine delivered if you wanted it. Honestly, there was so much food that we ended up taking leftovers with us when we left.
The time went by so quickly! We thought we would get so much stuff done in quarantine, but it just flew by. It didn’t help that an entire day was spent organising things like bank accounts, tax numbers and all that other fun life admin. We really had a genuinely great time, though. The hotel had little competitions they ran for all the guests. One was to make something crafty out of things you had in the room and another was a quiz with brain twisters, a crossword puzzle and a Sudoku. The first person to email through pictures of the completed worksheet got a prize. And guess who got that prize? Nathan! A certificate and a bottle of wine. We were a little salty that we didn’t win the crafting competition, though. We made a ship in a bottle out of cardboard, melted sugar for glue and dental floss for string! It was pretty damn cool! Not sure who won, but we don’t see how you could beat that!
We’re out early! Or so we thought…
Whilst we were in quarantine, the rules changed from a 10 day quarantine to only 7. We were excited by the prospect of having some time to explore before Tiff had to start work. However, when we left, they hadn’t gotten our last COVID test back, so they did a RAT test and told us not to go out into the pubic until we got back our negative PCR. Which meant we went from the set up quarantine hotel to having to self isolate in our accommodation provided by Tiff’s work. Unfortunately for us, the hotel we got put up in is actually smaller than the one we were quarantining in. The reason this happened was that New Zealand had hit a wave of COVID and so many people were getting tested that the labs were behind by weeks on getting results out. In the end, after a lot of phone calls, we were told the negative RAT test was fine and we could go out into the public. But this was two days after Tiff started work. So no time to explore for us. With things changing so fast in the pandemic, we just got unlucky on this one.
It was a stressful and interesting start to our working holiday in New Zealand. We now have 10 weeks in Auckland to find ourselves a van and save up some money for vanlife and exploring this wonderful country. We still kind of can’t believe that we have made it here and are truly living out our wildest dream. It is funny how much this change affected us when we really thought we had gotten used to living life differently. The shake up and stress of moving to New Zealand had us (Tiff especially) questioning our choice to uproot our lives away from our family and friends in search of adventure.
We wouldn’t change a thing!
Now that we have settled in a little, we are really happy to be here. Whilst we miss our friends and family, they are only a plane ride away and video chat has been great in keeping up with them all. This road definitely isn’t for everyone, but that’s also kind of the point. We have to all find our own road instead of taking the well worn, generic, socially accepted and even forced road that we seem to find ourselves on. It’s hard to break away from that. But if you do it in a way that is true to yourself, it’s the best thing in the world! And hey, if you find the common road to be what suits you best, that’s great too! Just at least question if it’s leading you in the direction you want your life to go. We’ve found the bumps are easier to endure when they are on the road of your choosing. And as Tiff’s dad says, if you can get through those, then you can get through anything!
Keen for more inspo? Be sure to check out:
- The Best Hot Pools on the North Island
- Working Holiday Budget – One Year of New Zealand
- 10 Anxiety Hacks for a Smooth Flight
