This topic will earn many more than one post. It is an experience we will be talking about for decades. “Where were you during the pandemic” is going to be asked by your children and then theirs. We happened to be a couple days from coming back to the US for the first time in two years. We were only planning to stay a week, and we had a lot of plans. Time with family. Time visiting our dogs, happily re-homed. Time with friends, several parties planned. We had some business to attend to. And the main reason why we had to come home was to get our driver’s licenses renewed. I kid you not, we could not get that done online. We planned to study the manual on the plane and we had a DMV appointment for the next day. We were in Australia for a couple months starting late 2019. The virus was talked about and Australia was making aggressive moves to curb the virus, New Zealand was not allowing people to come to the country via China and we were questioned through customs. But the USA had not caught on to the problem yet. We were not too concerned either, because Zealand was virtually devoid of any cases.
Two days before we came home, we reached out to the people who we would be staying with in the USA, just to make sure they were not concerned about housing world travelers as this pandemic is picking up steam. They were. We shared information and made the decision, reluctantly, not to come to the USA in March 2020. Our travel medical insurance covers us in every country of the world, except the USA. So America is not where we want to get sick. Or stuck. We were numb for a few days scampering to find lodging, and figure out where we want to spend the next month or two. Plus, one driver’s license was expired, the other only had a few days remaining. We needed to solve this issue so we could continue to rent cars and drive the cars of our house sit families. We actually managed to get a valid permanent New Zealand driver’s license. One problem solved. Right at the same time, New Zealand had announced that it would be closing its border. So thousands of New Zealanders were flocking home to avoid a 14 day quarantine that was about to be implemented. Auckland started filling with potential covid19 cases. We beat it out of Auckland.
We were really sad that we were not going to get to see our dogs. And our 7 weeks of pet sitting scheduled for Spring in Europe was also in jeopardy. So one of my first priorities was to see if we could get some pet sitting gigs to give us some pet time. We found one, it sounded fabulous. But in a matter of days the homeowner’s vacation was canceled, so the pet sit was canceled. We got another assignment. This one was for some folks traveling within New Zealand to help a daughter with home improvement. We figured this was a sure thing. But when New Zealand locked down totally, this one was also canceled. The two assignments in Europe also ended up canceled with no travel going to of from Europe very easily.
We headed north, chasing the sun. Fall has arrived and Winter is coming in this hemisphere. We found an airBnB in a small town, Onerahi, between Whangarei and Whangarei Heads. It is ocean front, floor to ceiling windows, beautiful views, big house. Fantastic place to be stuck. Couple bikes and kayaks for our use. But the best find of all were the hosts. A nicer couple could not be found. We travel without a car; this place was a risk because it is a ways from town. But the hosts drove us around, took us to some trailheads and generally acted as tour guide. A couple of days after we arrived, New Zealand announced a lock down. We were on the edge of panic, but the hosts assured us we could stay at their place through the duration of the lockdown. They offered us their car, and took care of any needs.
We have been here 5 weeks now and have at least two more weeks before the travel restrictions will be lifted. We have been doing yoga and aerobic workouts televised every morning. We have coffee with our hosts, and a few dinners. We are reading a ton of books. There are few cars or boats going by, and no one will let me pet their dogs. We were prohibited from swimming or kayaking for the first 5 weeks, and look forward to that rule being lifted.
New Zealand automatically extended all traveler’s visas through September. We first thought that was overkill, but now maybe not. Almost no country is allowing foreigners to enter right now. And for the indeterminate future. We still do not feel comfortable coming back to the USA. So we will be spending the foreseeable future in beautiful, quiet, safe New Zealand.
Accidentally, we have found ourselves in just about the best place to be during this pandemic. First, New Zealand is an island and can manage its borders aggressively. Secondly, the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, is a fantastic leader in a crisis. She has a calm demeanor, talks straight, and messaging has been clear. Third, our airBnB and hosts are the bomb. Fourth, in usual times, visitors are limited to 90 days in this beautiful country. And Fifth, we are so lucky to be in an English speaking country. I cannot imagine how much more disconcerting this would be, if we could not understand the local messaging. We have been through emergencies before in foreign countries where there is plenty of English translation during normal times, then when things go awry, the English stops.
I would do a few things differently if I had a do-over. First I would worry less about hoarding wine. The wine still flowed, food too. Instead, my first priority should have been a hair stylist. And an appointment on the books for the other side of the lock down.
It has been plenty boring. Realize, we have no unfinished projects, no junk drawers or closets to clean. No landscaping or cleaning. I have been pretty jealous of all the productivity everyone else can perform. Then it dawned on me… I can use this time to develop my blog.