Official advice for New Zealanders living and travelling overseas

News features

Indonesia: Methanol Poisoning

Reviewed: 17 December 2019, 10:47 NZDT

Cases of severe illness (including permanent blindness) and death have been reported in Indonesia following consumption of alcohol drinks mixed with toxic chemicals, particularly methanol. These cases of poisoning were reported to have been as a result of the consumption of local spirits such as Arak (a rice-based spirit), and spirit-based drinks/cocktails, mixed with or contaminated by toxic chemicals such as methanol. Travellers to Bali, L...read more

Adventure tourism and sports

Reviewed: 28 November 2019, 14:06 NZDT

Many Kiwi travellers participate in adventure tourism and sports while overseas, from paragliding and bungy jumping to jet skiing and camel riding. While these activities are bound to make your trip unforgettable, they have inherent risks. Making them memorable for the right reasons means considering safety precautions and travel insurance implications. Travellers should be aware that operators overseas may not have the same safety and maintenan...read more

Health Information

Reviewed: 28 November 2019, 13:37 NZDT

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade liaises with the Ministry of Health to provide information on health issues for New Zealand travellers, including information on disease outbreaks and health precautions for travellers. For more information on travel health issues, please see our Health and Travel page. ...read more

Mosquito-borne Illnesses

Reviewed: 10 September 2018, 09:05 NZST

Outbreaks of mosquito-borne illnesses are common in the tropical and sub-tropical climates in many Pacific Islands, in North Queensland (Australia), Asia (including India), tropical Africa and Latin/South America. West Nile virus is commonly found in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, North America and West Asia. Dengue fever, chikungunya virus and Zika virus are spread by the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito and cannot be spread directly f...read more

South America: Ayahuasca tea

Reviewed: 6 September 2018, 09:00 NZST

In some South American countries, especially Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, shamans and other individuals offer ‘spiritual cleansing’ rituals which involve serving Ayahuasca tea. This tea contains dimethyltryptamine (DMT), which is a hallucinogen. While not illegal, Ayahuasca tourism is not regulated and does present certain risks.   There have been reports of psychological damage, assault, theft and rape of people under the infl...read more

Europe: Internal border controls

Reviewed: 18 July 2018, 16:13 NZST

As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade does not issue visas it cannot provide definitive advice on the requirements to enter or exit countries within the Schengen area.  Border officials may adopt different interpretations of the rules or take into account other factors which might affect eligibility for entry.  For this reason we recommend that travellers consult in advance with their travel agent or the relevant EU/Schengen emba...read more

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