[firstkings]

We have about 22 days to go....if we get our VISAs in time!

Trying to keep the children happy during the hols would be easier if we could visit the local farm (stick to paths/grass areas) or the local woods.

Signing the Immigration Card (http://www.customs.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/46008DC5-101A-4F89-B7D4-29669E3166E7/0/ArrivalCard.pdf)

we have to declare such trips. If asked, our children will not lie and are quite eact in their answers..."Yes, we went to the farm last week!" etc)

what is the effect of declaring such instances? if we can reason it through, then we'll go to the woods etc and tell the truth, if not then we'll just have to cope!

Anyone know?

Cheers

David

[GeordieLass]

I'm not the authority on this but i think if you tick "yes" to the farm question they will want to look at the shoes you are wearing and any in your case to make sure you are not bringing in mud or anything else that might be contaminated.

I travelled to Australia for a gap year just at the start of the foot and mouth outbreak in the UK. The very nice man at immigration asked to see all my footwear as I lived in quite a rural area. Which would have been fine. BUT in a bid to conserve as much space as possible in my rucksack I had employed the trick of rolling up your underwear and stuffing it in your shoes. So as I wrestled the shoes out of the bottom of the bag, numerous pairs of pants flew out onto the desk, the floor and all over! I was mortified.

They let me in though!

[Oregonkiwi]

yes, as Geordielass says, they're worried about mud on your shoes that might be contaminated with diesease-carrying organisms. So enjoy your trip to the woods, clean your shoes as well as you can before the flight, pack them at the top of your luggage if you're not wearing them, answer the questions truthfully, and if they decide you need inspection, they'll take a few minutes to inspect your footwear. If your shoes don't pass, they'll clean them for you.

[marcia]

Just take all reasonable care - thats all anyone asks, and at the end of the day they're not applying the rules to make things awkward for anyone in particular, just to try and keep the country safe and pest free, for us all to enjoy! :)

[Lupin]

Yep, we went to OZ and NZ during foot and mouth outbreak and as we lived rurally on a farm lane we just let our daughter live as normal and cleaned our footwear really, really well and kept them at the top of our rucksacks in a plastic bag. They just had a quick look and could see we'd cleaned them and that was it.

Definetly enjoy the farm and the woods :)