Since we decided to stay in New Zealand to wait out this virus a lot has happened here, as it has there. New Zealand announced that any entrants into the country would have to self quarantine in the place where they land for 2 weeks. People swarmed into the country: citizens and tourists. People sneaking in before the quarantine brought the virus in strength. But even the self quarantine was not that restrictive and since most people would be doing this in Auckland, we decided we wanted to be out of Auckland. But where to go?
We got a house sit in the north of the north island that I was really excited about. Among other animals it was 3 mares with 3 very young foals. This would be a blast. Then they canceled because their holiday got canceled. We got another house sit: 2 dogs, one only 9 months old, in a situation where the couple was traveling within New Zealand to help their daughter with house repairs. This was on the South island after Easter. We figured this was a more stable situation and accepted this one. So we decided to go north in the meantime. We found the beautiful airB&B many of you have seen on Instagram. We immediately rented this place for another week. Then the second house sit canceled, and 24 hours later the entire country went into level 4 alert to the virus. We would not have been able to get to the south island anyway.
We had 48 hours to get squared away. Tourists needed to get warm clothes because they were not planning to spend the winter here. I wish I had thought to get a haircut. After that, total isolation. No public transportation or even driving, nothing open just pharmacies and grocery stores. We are allowed to exercise, but not in parks, no sports (germs transmitted on balls). Complete isolation for 4 weeks minimum. All this when New Zealand hit 155 cases, because 3 of the cases were transmitted on New Zealand soil. This government is serious about protecting its citizens. Still there are less than 300 cases and no deaths here. The Prime Minister, Jacinda Aldern, is on TV almost every night answering questions of the reporters. Get this, she answers the actual question asked. Clearly, decisively, no double speak or political camouflage. It is amazing. She has a very calming effect on everyone.
So today was day-one of the total lock-down. We watched the weather over the water: first a sunrise, then windy, a little rain, rainbow, sun and then sunset. And we read books. We are settling into our exile in New Zealand.
Daily Life in New Zealand
I will be digging hard to come up with entertaining letters in the next 4 or more weeks. I’ll share some real-world, living in New Zealand things we are learning. The maori language names for things are impossible. So many words look like every other word. And the words are very long. Hawaii is the same way. Except here “wha” is pronounced as an “f”, so that further confuses us – there are lots of Wha…words. And most people living here speak a fair amount of Maori. TV here is pretty limited. Even Friends and 2 ½ men episodes are few. There is the choice of: New Zealand reality TV: bachelorette New Zealand, New Zealand has talent; Australian reality TV: Australian dancing with the stars; or English reality TV. And I can tell you, as bad as our reality TV is, England’s is worse. But we stumbled on one show I must share: the show is called “Naken attraction”. This show will NEVER make it to USA shores. Premise of the show is picking a mate based only on physical attraction. Great start right? So, 6 men are on display for a woman to pick. They start by standing naked, each in a cylinder and the frosted glass front of the capsules rises from the bottom up to show the naked men from the waist down.The camera zeros in on the important parts. The host (a woman) and the woman contestant discuss the attributes and parts in front of them. The woman eliminates one man based solely on her view of his legs and stuff, never are the legs even mentioned. In the episode we watched, she chose based on a scary piercing she didn’t think she was brave enough to try. Then the frosted glass raises a little more, and then more. One man is eliminated at every level. Soon the men are standing in all their glory. So then the female contestant must disrobe herself. And the host discusses and shows the camera her attributes as well. Eventually one man is chosen and the couple stands naked in front of us all, hugging and touching. It is weird to watch. After commercial, the tables are turned: one man picking between 6 naked women. I KID YOU NOT!
I cannot top that, should have started tamer. Another show that is intriguing me is called “8 out of 10 cats”. I think most of my intrigue is because we’ve watched it about 10 times, and I have no idea why it is so named. 2 teams of 2 comedians play a word game and a math game. Neither game is easy. But neither is too exciting either. That is all I can say about that.
Last English show I will share is the Graham Norton show. It is a really good show! Talk show with great guests, all relaxed and enjoying themselves. Sort of like Johnny Carson. We love this one and watch it whenever we find it. If we had to choose between Naked Attraction and Graham Norton, … I think we would switch channels back and forth.
So don’t worry about us. Other than the lack of good TV, we are in about the best place to be in the world. We have a great airB&B host that is taking care of us, and we can stay here as long as we need. We are a long way away from a grocery store and don’t have a car, but we have bikes and need the exercise. We also have SUP’s and kayaks to use.
We are worried about the USA and Europe. We know the situation is worse there, and getting worse quickly. We know you are not getting clear direction and messaging. We hope you are being sensible anyway and keeping yourself safe without panic and too much anxiety.
Love,
Actual vagabonds now, Kim and Mark