Being more than 11,000 miles away from home can be daunting at the best of times but even more so when your loved ones are unable to visit or vice versa.
Like many New Zealanders, Ami McLean hasn't been able to welcome her family and friends from her native Derry to her Auckland home for more than two years.
That's why this week's reopening of the country's borders to more international visitors will be a huge boost to members of New Zealand's large Irish community like Ami.
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On Monday, the country welcomed thousands of international tourists from around the world after keeping its borders closed to the majority of the world for over two years.
People from more than 60 countries including the UK and most of Europe can now enter the country if they're vaccinated and show a negative Covid-19 test.
New Zealand citizens have been able to travel in and out of the country since March, while Australians have been allowed in since April.
Travellers touched down at Auckland Airport on Monday, many to emotional reunions with family and friends.
Prehen native Ami, 39, has been living in the New Zealand city of Auckland for the past eight years with her husband Ray, 40 and their young twin sons, who arrived almost four years ago.
Aside from her career as a communications advisor with Auckland District Health Board, Ami also established Irish Mammies in NZ, to support the many Irish immigrants living in New Zealand who may need a touch of home to make it seem not so far away.
"There is a mass exodus of the Irish happening here at the moment for holidays at home," Ami told MyDerry.
"A lot of Irish people based here have been booking flights home as soon as the border reopened. Unfortunately, the prices are also crazy because so many people are looking for flights. Fuel costs have risen significantly so they are almost double the price.
"There are 1,500 in our group so what we've been doing is sharing flight details and hooking up with people to fly home. Our group supports women who have emigrated over here from Ireland and we are seeing a wave of people coming now to support some of our new mums.
"It's mostly mammies coming out here from home now who are also sharing their details to see if anyone needs an extra pair of hands or company for the long flight out," Ami explained.
"From an immigrant point of view it's more a case of grandparents coming out to provide a helping hand to friends and family rather than a holiday. That's what everyone has been missing so there will be lots of tearful reunions happening."
While Ami hopes to fly home in the near future to see her nearest and dearest, she is realistic that the current cost of living crisis has left people "a bit tight".
"Coming out here is not as frequently discussed now as it would have been two years ago when we had lots of people making the trip. Now they're excited for us coming home as it will be cheaper and we will be home soon," she added.
New Zealand's strict Covid policies, some of the world's toughest border restrictions, allowed it to escape the worst of the virus, keeping cases and deaths relatively low compared to many other countries.
Its economy is heavily reliant on tourism from international visitors - the country welcomed more than three million tourists each year before the pandemic struck.
Tourism had previously accounted for around 20% of New Zealand's foreign income and more than 5% of its overall economy.
Ami and Ray, who works with Vehicle Testing New Zealand, had also planned to get married at home but the pandemic cancelled those plans. Instead, they tied the knot last May in a smaller ceremony with their family watching on Zoom from Derry.
"We have twin boys who are almost four and we last got to take them home when they were six months old before the borders closed.
"We know we would have had lots of visitors over here if that hadn't happened so it's great that now we have that opportunity again," Ami added.
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