Guardianship — overseas travel — COVID-19 pandemic — Care of Children Act 2004 ss 4, 5, 6, 46R & 139A. The parties had a single daughter (the child) who lived with the respondent mother pursuant to a final parenting order. The applicant father lived in his home country in Europe and in the current matter he applied to settle the issue of whether the child could travel to his home country to visit him. The applicant was prepared to travel to New Zealand to visit the child, but was currently unable to do so because of the COVID-19 pandemic and his own unvaccinated status. The respondent opposed the application, citing the risks that the child could contract COVID-19 and also may have trouble re-entering New Zealand. The child said that she did not want to travel overseas alone but did want to see her father if he was able to come to New Zealand. The Court was unable to order travel out of New Zealand because of the practical difficulties created by the COVID-19 pandemic. However the Court listed matters to be considered by parties to enable contact between the applicant and the child in the future, including: that visiting a parent overseas is generally seen as a positive experience for children; that overseas travel needs to be extensively planned beforehand; that the applicant would likely need to travel to New Zealand to spend time with the child before she had the confidence to visit him in his home country; that the applicant, respondent and child would all need to decide whether to get vaccinated against COVID-19; and that the child's views would need to be re-considered at the time of the proposed travel. The application was refused. Judgment Date: 4 November 2021. * * * Note: names have been changed to comply with legal requirements. * * *