Tearful family reunion in Cairns as New Zealand borders open
Just under a month since New Zealand opened its borders to Australia, a Cairns family experienced a tearful family reunion at Cairns Airport. WHEN DO DIRECT FLIGHTS FROM CAIRNS BEGIN
Cairns
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cairns. Followed categories will be added to My News.
JUST under a month since New Zealand opened its border to Australia, a Cairns family experienced a tearful family reunion at Cairns Airport after two-and-a-half years of Covid restrictions on international travel.
Emily Evans originally from Cairns, moved to Christchurch six years ago but never expected it would be just under three years before she got to see her family again.
Ms Evans finally got to see her family in an emotional greeting at Cairns Airport on Saturday afternoon and said she didn’t care what she did during her time in the region as long as she was with them.
“When we first moved over it felt like going to Brisbane, you could fly direct but then it got complicated and then our daughter Eliza was born,” Ms Evans said.
“But then Covid happened and now it’s nice for Eliza to meet her family. It’s a bit hard being away from the family.
“It doesn’t seem like a long time but with Eliza being so young there’s been a lot of changes. She was not walking when they last saw her.”
The last time the family came to Australia was December 2017 and Eliza is keen to see the Far North.
“I think there’s a little girl who wants to see a kangaroo,” she said.
“She’s been telling everyone that she meets for the last two weeks that she’s going to see her nanny and pop.”
New Zealand’s borders opened to Australia at midnight on April 12, but direct flights from Auckland are expected to resume on July 5 with three services weekly.
But this did not stop the Evans family from their much needed reunion so they flew into Brisbane first.
Dennie Kelly from Mount Sheridan said it had been a long day waiting to see her daughter and grandchild.
“She’s (Eliza) gone from a toddler to a big girl in all this time. Thank goodness for FaceTime cause we’ve been able to catch up on the things we’ve been missing out on,” Ms Kelly said.
The one thing Ms Kelly is excited about is being able to show her granddaughter where she is from.
“We’d love to show her the aquarium and all the beautiful places we have around us. They love (the) outdoors,” she said.
“It’s just been terrible, that’s how I put it not being able to see them.”
But the family time won’t stop; now that there is a bit of certainty, Ms Kelly said there were plans to go to New Zealand.
“Eliza invited us to her fourth birthday party in Christchurch so we’ve told her we’d love to be there.”
More Coverage
Originally published as Tearful family reunion in Cairns as New Zealand borders open
Get used to my ‘big ideas’: Mayor
Mayor Amy Eden says those critical of her unexpected pitch to buy a stake in Cairns Airport need to get used to her “big ideas” while responding to early feedback.
Community devastated by loss of ‘happy-go-lucky’ town ‘celebrity’ after fatal croc attack
The tiny Queensland town of Aurukun is in mourning after a town “celebrity” known for his friendly nature was snatched from a river bank by a problem crocodile. Warning: Story contains photos of an Indigenous man who has died, published with permission.