A date for the trans-Tasman travel bubble could be announced as early as next week, but for some Kiwis desperate to get home, it could be too late.
One dying woman, Hayley Eldridge, 29, says if it doesn't open soon, she won't get a chance to see her mum and dad.
The Kiwi is currently living in Australia and wants to get home to see her parents before it is too late. In September, her rare and aggressive head and neck cancer returned.
"My prognosis is basically measured in a matter of months," she says.
"The situation I'm already in is stressful and that just broke me trying to see my mum and dad."
Her parents live in Christchurch and she lives in Melbourne.
So when Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in December last year that the Government would establish a bubble with Australia in principle by the first quarter by early 2021, it gave Eldridge hope.
Without that flight, the only option is a two-week stay in MIQ in June.
"Two-and-a-half months might not seem long for some people, but in my position, two-and-a-half months is a very long time," Eldridge says.
It's understood Monday could be when the bubble is announced, with it rolled out in mid-April.
COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says Cabinet will discuss the bubble "shortly".
No one is more ready for the travel arrangement than Eldridge.
"I want to come home. I want to see my parents, I want to see my mum and dad."
