It feels too good to be true: Australians might soon be allowed to go on quarantine-free holidays to the Pacific Islands, thanks to the latest advancements in our trans-Tasman travel bubble.
At a News Corp Australia travel event, Trade and Tourism Minister Dan Tehan said the federal and New Zealand governments were deliberating expanding quarantine-free travel to include a number of Pacific destinations.
These are said to include the Cook Islands, Tahiti, New Caledonia, Fiji and Tonga.
“Obviously we are going to have to monitor what is occurring in our region and to see if there are future opportunities,” Mr Tehan said in response to this discussed ‘next phase’.
He also noted that vaccinating the majority of our population is crucial to borders reopening. Basically, being vaccinated will be the new passport for international travel.
Given the current seven-day “circuit breaker” lockdown in Victoria, with growing hotspots and cases daily, this hopeful travel news is a bit of a different pace.
Since the Melbourne COVID-cluster, the average of people getting vaccinated daily has doubled. Prior to lockdown, around 7.5k people were getting vaccinated daily. This has now risen to over 15k to 16k people per day. Although a challenge for COVID nurses and frontline workers, it is a positive shift for the future of eradicating the virus from Australian communities.
The more people who are vaccinated, the more likely our governments are to widen our Australian travel bubble, which could mean tropical holidays for the whole family!
The extension to include the Pacific Islands in the trans-Tasman bubble would also include travellers from New Zealand.
“We are supporting our Pacific family and the idea of a bubble that goes beyond New Zealand and Australia is a real possibility,” Morrison told reporters.
While we sit here dreaming about Mai Tais against the backdrop of Fiji, we can satisfy our cravings with some local forest bathing, horse-riding along the Alpine regions, or some much-needed R&R at a regional eco-villa.
Although many of us feel trapped right now (especially those in their fourth lockdown in Melbourne), it’s important to appreciate that Australia is a beautiful place to live, with endless possibilities in life, education and travel. In times of isolation, it helps to practise gratitude.
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