Mountain Scene
By TRACEY ROXBURGH
You could almost hear the sighs of relief at 4pm on Tuesday in Queenstown.
After holding the collective breath for more than a year, the resort was finally able to exhale as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a trans-Tasman bubble will open from 11.59pm on April 18.
The first flight from Australia into Queenstown in more than a year will be operated by Qantas, from Sydney, landing in the resort about 2.30pm on April 19.
Air New Zealand will resume its international flights the following day.
But most in the Whakatipu are expecting a slow burn, initially, before the resort’s international pulse starts racing again in July, coinciding with both the New Zealand and Australian winter school holidays.