I watched a fun new movie this week called The Trip to Greece – it's out in cinemas now.

It stars Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan, playing slightly exaggerated versions of themselves as they eat, drink and drive themselves around Greece.

It’s a ‘sort-of’ travel/food show that also has them doing excellent impersonations, making witty comments about ruins, sprinkled with a dash of personal drama.

It’s a repeat of their previous films in which they toured the Lakes District, Spain and Italy, and once again you find yourself hungry, thirsty and laughing almost immediately.

At first, The Trip to Greece felt like a wonderful slice of escapism, before turning into what felt like a cruel joke.

The more beautiful the scenery became, the more I was reminded none of us will be having our own Greek odyssey anytime soon.

This week there has been plenty of talk of an impending Trans-Tasman bubble, and a Pacific Island bubble.

At the end of May, the Prime Minister revealed a trans-Tasman bubble with Australia could realistically be in place by September, but pressure on the government to move faster means we could see one as early as July.

There’s no doubt the bigger the bubbles the better - this is as true with kids bathtime and university parties, as business and tourism. All of course balanced by the need for best practice border restrictions, testing and tracing of Covid 19, to avoid the unimaginable horror of returning to level 3 or 4.   

Deputy Prime Minister Mr Peters advocates for direct flights between New Zealand and Tasmania, and business leaders on both sides of the Tasman propose a Trans- Tasman trial run of flights between Wellington and Canberra by July.

It’s at this point I’ll like to put my hand-up for the Cook Islands.

Australia still has active Covid 19 cases, some states are still experiencing new cases and travel restrictions are still in place. The Cook Islands hasn’t recorded a single case of the coronavirus.

The Cook Islands' economy is 87 percent dependant on tourism – 87 percent. No economic pivot can fix that.

Why don’t we let a few New Zealanders in to help them out?

I get maritime and aviation security is an issue, but if Air New Zealand was the only airline flying in and out doesn’t that make it easier to control?

I know we are all supposed to be spending our dollars here in New Zealand. We’re all aware local businesses are struggling and need our support. We’re all aware how important it is to travel around New Zealand - I’ve booked my tickets to Nelson to do the Heaphy track in late November and can’t wait.

But if we’re blowing bubbles with Australia, why we can’t head to the Cook Islands too. Wouldn’t it be the kind thing to do? Don’t we have an obligation to support the Cook Islands, and for that matter Niue and Tokelau? They come within the Realm of New Zealand and their people have the right to be New Zealand citizens.

It’s winter here, and I can tell you it’s also winter in Canberra. Yesterday’s high in Canberra was 11 degrees, in the Cook Islands it was 24. The low was 20.

We’d be doing them a favour, they’d be lifting our spirits as well.