zerosleeps

I don’t know how to answer this question on the New Zealand passenger entry card.

Are you bring into New Zealand… Goods obtained overseas and/or purchased duty-free in New Zealand: with a total value of more than NZ$700 (including gifts)?

Yes. Everyone is. Got an iPhone? Bam, there’s your NZ$700. Just a decent suitcase full of shoes and clothes will get you there, never mind the technology everyone carries around with them all the time.

I’ve been travelling to and from New Zealand a fair bit recently, and have observed that answering truthfully to this question (“yes”) results in a conversation with a customs officer, while giving the less honest answer leads to instant freedom.

If everyone answered truthfully then there would be Airbus A380 sized queues in front of some poor customs officer at Auckland airport all day every day. But there isn’t, from which we can deduce that nobody answers the question truthfully, which means there’s absolutely no point to this question.

Get rid of it New Zealand. You know we’re all lying to you anyway.