In my first season here in 1996 (I'm American), John (boyfriend then, husband now) and I camped at the trailhead to Welcome Flat on the West Coast.

As evening approached the sandflies got incredibly hectic and hungry. There was another couple there that had on these nets like bee keepers and gloves on the hands totally covered and calmly making their dinner. John and I were a bit more jerky in our motions stirring and swiping, and swiping and chopping, and cooking and swiping. We dove into our tent, dispatched the sandflies that followed us in, and ate our dinner listening to the sound of sandfly rain on the fly of our tent. I mentioned to John that those hats with nets were pretty great. He grumbled something about tourists and being uncool, and I never figured out where you get those nets. And so began my learning about the great Kiwi sandfly country.

I began developing Goodbye Sandfly in 1998, and here we are, a total of 14 years of Kiwi influenced sandfly country experience summed up by: Wear light coloured, long sleeve clothing and use a repellent that you like. That's it. Becky