so, i have been, with a sense of bravery and adventure, off to New Zealand. and back, look you see, but i rather think i am foolish for leaving such a magnificent place. considerably more to follow on my adventures, or if you will odyssey, but first off some reasonably (as in very) important information. my travels very nearly did not happen, thanks to what amounts to a visa but they claim is not. although you absolutely do need it.
yes, then. if you have used google (or similar) to search for information (which admittedly i did not) you do need a visa to go to New Zealand, even if you are a UK passport holder. except they don't call it a visa as such, but a NZeTA (their lettering). that stands for "New Zealand electronic Travel Authority", and you can't even get on the plane if you do not have it. which is an interesting thing to (as was the case with me) learn when you are just four hours away from getting on said plane. how unfortunate no one mentions this when, say, buying the ticket. or checking your details, for the app for my airline of choice made no reference to me needing this, instead ticking me off as "complete" with details when i added my passport in.
the most important thing i can throw in here for anyone searching is, well, to start with, to state again, yes you do, as a British passport holder, need a visa for New Zealand. after that it is how you get one of the things. my only option was to install the app, which you can find on whatever store your phone system is indelibly linked to. should you wish to pay NZ$6 more for it (don't ask me why) then you can apply for one off of their website, the link for which is right here.
what, exactly, is a NZeTA? it feels cynical to say such but essentially little more than a cash grab and a means of trying to weed out anyone who(m) may be visiting for reasons the authorities of the country would prefer you not to. a more positive me would like to see it as a not at all unreasonable sort of tourist tax (which you do pay as part of it all) but it all feels rather too intrusive and certainly appears designed to catch people (like, for instance, me) out.
as it turns out approval on it is fairly fast, apparently taking minutes. unfortunately the actual app is completely and utterly f*****g useless and does not update you with such information. i had a teary, jelly legged hour or so living in fear of missing my flight because my NZeTA app told me that my application was "pending". and then when i, in a slump of defeat, went to ask how i would go about moving my ticket on to another flight, the people at the airline desk informed me that the visa (for that is what it is) had been approved on their side, and off i could fly. which i did.
frankly the NZ government really need to get their sh!t together with this thing. if you wish to charge me and many others to visit, fine, but don't make it such a big secret, and have the decency to give some support and help. you, New Zealand, are making massive efforts to attract tourists, yet you pull this on us. and by this i don't mean the not unreasonable "tourist tax" in the form of a visa, but rather the ludicrous level of difficulty. you have made something simple into a last minute barrier.
beyond the somewhat specific, intrusive questions it asks (and surely anyone going to NZ for reasons they are being less than honest about would lie) i am at a loss as to why they can't have you simply pay for this NZeTA on arrival. or have some means that you can apply and pay via the airline you travel with, even if that does shove some "admin costs" on to it. oh, in respect of the cost, i think it clocked in at about £25 or so. quite a silly amount to jeopardise the thousands paid for a flight and make the name of your country a mockery of a shambles.
not everyone has the "oh well at least it worked out in the end" story i do. this much i know to be true, for there were two ladies of maturing years who were also caught out. alas they could make head nor tail of what the requirement was, or how to get it, and so elected to leave the airport so as to stay at a hotel and work it all out from there. not really sure that's what the drive for New Zealand tourism had intended to achieve, but they hit that target anyway.
hopefully this information (if not my commentary) has helped someone out with this. may they have a somewhat less stressed travel experience as a consequence. indeed New Zealand is quite far away, but by my word is it well worth the trip. and i can even go back, now i have this visa thing for a couple of years.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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