I just flew to Sydney, and yes, New Zealand is (still) a hermit kingdom – Stuff

Brook Sabin is a travel journalist with Stuff.

OPINION: I was like a rabid dog under my mask. I may have even been foaming. I was furious.

I started the day masked and socially distanced in New Zealand. Just six hours later, I was in an overflowing underground bar in Sydney with 30-odd people packed so closely together we could smell each other's breath. Not one person was masked. Not even the staff.

After more than two years of cautious mask wearing, this wasn't a culture shock. It was a Covid shock.

This bar served wine, beer and potentially a free side plate of Covid. You might just be lucky, and escape with a hangover. Or you might get a virus that's killed more than six million people. I won't drink to that.

DAVID WHITE AND BROOK SABIN/Stuff

After spending time in Sydney, its become clear that we are still a hermit kingdom.

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I kept my mask on and people looked at me like I was an alien. I kept trying to shut my eyes, because every time someone breathed on me it felt like Covid was merrily making its way into me via my eyeballs.

One guy explained you only use your mask if you're sick, or if your household contact has Covid (yes, you aren't required to isolate).

Arriving in Sydney was like rewinding the clock to 2019.

Aside from a passing mention on the plane, there were no Covid checks at the airport (I just had to fill out a form online before we departed).

Brook Sabin/Stuff

Me, the alien, with my mask on.

We were required to go straight to our hotel, and isolate until we returned a negative RAT test - which seemed sensible. That's where the Covid precautions ended.

We were checked in by staff without masks it's the first time I've seen the full face of a hotel worker in more than two years.

Malls, shops, restaurants, movies - almost no-one was wearing masks. There is a requirement for public transport, but it is widely ignored.

Over the day, I asked as many people as possible why they weren't wearing masks. The answer was almost universal: we've had the virus, and moved on. I specifically asked older people too, as I thought they might have a different view. They didnt.

Now, of course, that is an overly simplistic dismissal of a very complex virus.

Even if youve had Covid, there is a risk of reinfection. And the 8861 people who died of Covid in Australia can't move on. That's not to mention the tens of thousands if not more who face complications from long Covid. (Keith Lynch has an excellent deep dive into the issue here.)

But there was a genuine sense that Omicron has changed things: infection is inevitable. So why delay the inevitable?

Some also argued they were better to get the virus before their vaccine-induced immunity waned.(Once again, Keiths piece is worth a read).

Brook Sabin/Stuff

Almost everyone was unmasked during my trip to Sydney including at the Vivid light festival.

I made a decision that night in the hotel lobby to dramatically jump ship and adopt the Sydney way of life. If I got Covid, so be it. (Full disclosure: I'm in my early 30s with moderate asthma). I know this wouldn't be the right decision for everyone.

Over the next ten days, something pretty remarkable happened. I forgot about Covid. For the first time in more than two years, it didn't rule my social interactions. I went to the Vivid festival, where tens of thousands were crammed into small spaces. I came in contact with hundreds if not thousands - of people. I ate out for all meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner. At around 30 restaurants, all packed. It felt liberating.

I havent had the virus (that I know of), and I didnt get it over there.

The only reminder of Covid came when returning home. I had to get a pre-departure test, but couldn't find a place to do it (I was in a small town outside Sydney). I wasted most of my last day organising it. And then there was the overly-bureaucratic and confusing seven task travel declaration needed to get back into my own country.

It also seemed pointless. You're required to RAT test after entering New Zealand, and on day five - so that should catch most cases.

NZ Traveller Declaration/Supplied

The New Zealand Traveller Declaration requires seven tasks to be checked off and must be submitted before you fly.

There is also so much Covid in New Zealand, per capita, many are more at risk of catching it here. Even the pharmacist questioned the need for the test as he was taking my money.

Arriving in New Zealand felt like I'd be teleported back to a place where Covid rules our lives. The Australian way of life had rubbed off on me so much that I twice forgot my mask heading to the supermarket.

The trouble with Covid restrictions is that they are so sweeping, for a disease that is so individual. My risk is very different to someone in their 80s who has emphysema. Sure, that person should continue precautions but should they be imposed on all of us?

Brook Sabin/Stuff

Thousands of unmasked people lined Sydneys waterfront for the opening weekend of the Vivid festival.

Sir John Key's declaration that New Zealand was a hermit kingdom never sat well with me back in 2021 - it was made in the context of Delta, which I wouldn't want to catch. I'm grateful most of us were protected through the worst of the pandemic.

To me, however, his criticism rings true now. Omicron is different.

Covid is going nowhere and the restriction-free life isn't as scary as it seems. More people need to head overseas and realise there is life after Covid.

Coming home felt like I was returning to a land of unnecessary restrictions. One where our overly-cautious attitude that worked so well during the early stages of the pandemic needs a recalibration.

Because much of the world is getting on with life. And we need to as well.

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments.

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I just flew to Sydney, and yes, New Zealand is (still) a hermit kingdom - Stuff