US Post Office Can Only Deliver to Australia or New Zealand by Express Mail

11/26: As we start mailing Christmas gifts to loved ones, it's worth remembering that thePostman only rings twice. Though in same cases, he doesn't ring at all.

The US Post Office has no way to deliver to Australia or New Zealand, except by Express Mail. This came to my attention the day after Thanksgiving, when standing in line at a post office. There were two older women waiting in line ahead of me (older than me anyway).

One of them wanted to send two T-Shirts to her daughter in Australia. "$66 dollars," said the uniformed postal service employee, explaining that then only way to send to Australia or New Zealand was by Express Mail.

The price hike, of course, is due to Covid-19. Australia and New Zealand have largely been closed to travelers and locked down, during the world wide coronavirus pandemic. Europe however, is accepting mail normally, despite lockdowns in Austria, Netherlands and elsewhere.