Tall Ferns star Micaela Cocks was among the thousands of Kiwis returning from Australia on day one of the trans-Tasman bubble.
Cocks has arrived at Auckland International Airport with daughter Hazel, where her father and sister were able to meet the five-month-old for the first time.
"It's very emotional and the music makes a bit more of an impact too," Cocks says, referring to the four-piece band nearby, playing Dave Dobbyn's 'Welcome Home' for the umpteenth time.
"It's great and I'm excited Hazel gets to meet everyone."
The 34-year-old has been based in North Queensland, where she's starred in the women's Australian NBL for Townsville Fire, guiding the team to three championships, since her arrival in 2011.
The veteran guard was a member of the Tall Ferns team that won a silver medal at the 2016 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, then bronze on the Gold Coast in 2018.
Cocks has patiently bided her time for the bubble to open, admitting it has been "really tough" being so far from her family, during such a momentous period of her life.
"The whole pregnancy, I spent with my partner in Townsville, but I had no immediate family there," she says. "Then, when she was born, we just kept waiting and waiting.
"Now, five months later, we finally get to reunite."
While she's still on maternity leave, Cocks was a participant at a recent Tall Ferns camp on the Gold Coast.
Co-incidentally, New Zealand head coach Guy Molly was also on her flight, returning to run Tall Ferns domestic camps next month in preparation for the Asia Cup in September.
But as far as Cocks is concerned, it's all about whanau for now, with plenty of introductions yet to be made with her daughter.
"I'll do some training with my nephew," she says with a smile. "I have more family down in Queenstown waiting for us... we go there tomorrow to see all of them, so that will be good."
