A British businessman has had plenty of time to work on his handicap after his New Zealand holiday was extended because of Covid-19.
Flight cancellations and border restrictions have kept David Hey and his wife at their holiday home in Karitane, but the unexpected extension has allowed him to work on his golf game at the Otago Golf Club.
But time might be running out on the extended holiday as their visas expire at the end of next month.
They originally planned to leave in March, transiting through Australia, but border closures meant their plans were cancelled, Mr Hey said.
Travelling back to the United Kingdom was something the couple were not looking forward to, because of the risk of becoming infected with Covid-19 during the long journey.
"We would need to transfer flights on at least four occasions, so managing to avoid any contamination from Covid under those circumstances is the big worry we have."
Two people in their apartment block in London had died of complications after catching the virus, he said.
Their temporary visas had already been extended once and they were waiting to hear if an application for another 12-month extension had been successful.
"We still have no notification from New Zealand immigration as to what they would like us to do, so right now we’re facing the prospect of having to go home in September."
They were also concerned that if they did leave, they might not be allowed to return to New Zealand, where they owned property and had been visiting since 2006.
He believed there were about 50,000 overseas visitors in New Zealand on temporary visas in a similar situation.
In the meantime the couple’s apartment at home looked after itself and he was happy to keep playing golf on a regular basis — and had had to extend his membership several times.
"It’s a beautiful place to come and play golf. The people, the members here are wonderful."
- Rudy Adrian
