The New Zealand Government had just announced the country would merge its travel bubble with Australia, and Dunedin Hospital physiotherapist Felicity Brown had bought tickets to fly home to Sydney to spend Christmas with her family.
Her excitement was palpable because it had been more than a year since she last saw them.
But then Covid-19 re-emerged in Sydney.
"My flights got cancelled, anyway. I wasn’t able to book into a quarantine facility, or afford it, really.
"So that’s where my plans got foiled a little bit.
"I really got my hopes up. It’s a shame, but at the same time, I’d much rather be here than over there at the moment.
"And even though I miss my family terribly, it is what it is."
The 25-year-old went to work yesterday, and during one of her breaks, she video-called her family in Sydney and watched them open presents.
Being able to see their faces on the special family day was fantastic.
Miss Brown said her mother sent a couple of big boxes of presents to Dunedin earlier this month, and she was delighted to open them yesterday morning and find, among other things, some soaps that smell like her mother.
It was a gift that would keep on giving, she said.
"My house will smell like mum now."
