Saturday, April 11th, day 17 lockdown….kind of exciting the supermarket is open today! Do need some greens!

The walk yesterday took George and Sue to the other side of the estuary…no humans and no boating. My Riverhaven buddies will be happy to see the whitecaps and know ‘twas not a good day for fishing, as they are usually here itching to get the boats out but…bubble bursting out is not allowed.

We decided to have some fun…in the sun

We have so much beauty within a stones throw that we never find the time to appreciate over the summer holidays!

George honed his stone skimming skills and….

Sue tried not to roll an ankle! The wind was cool but the sun warmed the day up and Easter Friday passed in a relaxed and pleasant blur!

No Hot cross buns this year…so threw together some cinnamon scrolls – nearly forgot the cinnamon (but last minute sprinkle before cooking did the trick)

May need to go on a Beer hunt today….three days of easter left – one Speights! (Bottle not box) and I guess some vegetables if that’s the case! Life right now is just full of exciting challenges! And time to smell the roses!

P.S. limping Larry did make his way from the beach to lounge under the feijoa tree for the rest of the day!

Easter Friday, April 10th – day 16 kiwi lockdown. Kiwi autumn to winter has hit us – the wind came up, the temperatures dropped and we had rain (like several downpours) on the day before the Easter break….although the long weekend looks very different to most Kiwis this year. The boys in blue (police) are setting up roadblocks all over the country and asking where you are going….holiday spots are a no no and you will be sent back to your bubble.

Yesterday, NZ had a mere 29 new cases today and while the economy is crippled, we are looking after our health…

On my walk to visit Dan in my double bubble, I encountered a weird man who asked me what I was baking today….ah yes dinner! He then proceeded to talk and yell to some unknown (and unseen) entity (he on footpath, me on the other side of the road). Mmm, our boys in blue sitting quietly on the deserted road had a good eye on him…and I briskly walked on….a deserted road is a little eerie.

No major walk yesterday, but a 5000 step total from local foot exercise keeps me on my toes….I have become the resident masseuse – George’s legs and Dans shoulders….maybe a new business opportunity!

Meanwhile in the Riverhaven bubble Larry is loitering…feasting off feijoas and hanging with the humans….he seems to be holding his own.

We are all living on the edge, will we be going or will we stay? When? No answer until 2 days before lockdown D-Day, so we try not to lose sleep or make plans that will probably be thwarted! It surely is uncertain times.

On a less positive note…the list has not been made and the jobs are not ticked off! Time stands still! And today is Good Friday….hot cross bun day, or scone day or whatever I can rattle up!

It’s 6.30am and the sun rises at 6.42am. I catch the morning waking up with birds and ducks (no humans) enjoying our little piece of paradise.

It’s a perfect morning and the ducks leave the water and guess who comes to great me…

Limping Larry has been taking his morning bath, the other ducks (en masse) head up the road to the herd and Larry limps over (alone) to say good morning, en route to the feijoa tree

Thursday April 9th, day 15 begins….

Yesterday mornings walk took me under the highway bridge and further up the valley, provoking memories of my sons early childhood, when we used to walk these roads from the other direction…not much has changed…..the road is still dirt and the corners still sharp. There are inlets at the riverside of the road where Dane (my nephew as a 3 year old) would fall in.

Nearing Dads old house I spy Jessica’s bridge where the boys used to fish off (or fall off)

Some things just don’t change in the country. One more big corner and there was Dads homestead…surrounded by big trees that Sandy and Dad planted.

A little further and the lockdown activities are evident – firewood for sale!

One way up and one way back, 9 km round trip (all flat) and the day was set for…work from home and another day of lockdown.

The daily report from the government was optimistic that we have this flat lining, but a newsflash last night indicated two more Auckland clusters have emerged. The big question on everyone’s minds is whether four weeks will see the end of this. Day by day the world around us gets quieter (human sightings) and noisier (birds and wildlife)…is this so bad after all?

And finally, every walk is a bear hunt (even though we don’t have bears in NZ)

A game we are all playing – hiding bears in gardens and windows. Reminds me that I would have been in Texas right now and going on a bear hunt with James! (My surrogate grand baby)

Wednesday, April 8th day 14 Lockdown, half way there!

As the sun set last night, we recap on the days activities. The Miss Marples became Miss Daisys – the community shoppers….As I had an early follow up appointment with an XRay machine, Trudi and I very kindly collected the lists and headed to the Supermarket after!

Trudi had three and I had Four….after the wait outside, trolley length apart (the new norm of shopping), we launched into it with our gloved hands, separate trolleys and lists lined up! The process, while not pleasant, is relatively stress free with fewer people in the shop…you do, however, always get the odd one that wants to “tut tut” or roll their eyes…..bet they are only shopping for themselves!

Car loaded, orders packed separately, we headed back to the hills to begin the courier drops! Dan first, then we circumnavigated camp and did our four drops! Being the Miss Daisy Role models, delivering a few treats for our bubble buddies!

So a walk was out of the question yesterday…and just realising the lockdown is halfway through, it is time to seriously work on the home maintenance list!

Happy hour has been brought forward an hour (with the end of daylight saving last weekend) and before we know it, it is 4.00pm….time to enjoy the last of the afternoon sunshine!

Beer (Sue) and wine (Trudi), were in desperate need of a change….our only other drink of choice, Rum and Coke….

None in our cupboard, but determination brings results, our friend John had a few shots in the back of his cupboard and kindly shared with the Miss Daisys! What goes round comes round, a very worthy swap for some Pastry!

While the rule breakers…fishermen, boaties, beach sitters and out of community visitors have all become noticeable by their absence, our little community bubbles are reaching out to help each other and keep us all sane in this “Whole New World”…we are all settling into a pattern and I, for one, will feel a little sadness when it is time to break out of the bubble! Maybe we all needed this reminder of what we really need in life!

Tuesday, April 7th, day 13…NZ you are doing well, all signs are looking good that the reigns may loosen after the four weeks.

In the meantime life in the bubbles continues…yesterday’s round up..

An early morning walk under the bridge, certainly cooler in the mornings, and steps a bit quicker to get the blood circulating…see our fat woolly friends in the foreground…all of nature is emerging to play.

Further up the valley a reality check that winter is actually on its way, the deciduous trees in the bush across the river fading to a lighter shade of pale, ready to undress for the cooler months…while us humans get out our winter woollies!

Walk done body warmed up by 9.00am. Then I got the call that bubble number two was cooking bacon and eggs for breakky on the BBQ! Yes please, I’ll be there in 15 minutes….an hour later we sat down to a very delicious pan cooked BBQ after spending said previous hour up to elbows in grease and cockroaches….moral of the story don’t lend your BBQ without doing regular inspections! Upper body workout complete…back to bubble one for work time…looks like a few of our online customers are firing up for action this week, with government approval!

So that’s the Bubble, bubble, toil bit….Trouble? The army helicopter flew low over the social distancing happy hour team….oh oh we are in our bubble, far apart (like 4 meters in a crop circle) but may earn a mention in the news as we may have been having fun! and were out in open!

Anyway we waved….we are sure he was just keeping an eye on our little seaside community as we have had so much police (and Miss Marple) action since the lockdown and was heading out to sea to look for rule breaking boaties.

Today sees me venturing out of the bubble for a medical appointment(essential service) and food shopping for the masses(another essential service)…three lists so far….

Monday April 6th – Day 12, usually a day of back to work stress for most kiwis……but not today (except for our fantastic supermarket, medical and other frontline workers)….today wakes to thoughts of working from home, taking a longer walk and what can I do with my rubber ball lemon honey!

Sunday (yesterday) was a long lazy day with an extra hour to fill in, as daylight saving finished…and no detective work for the Miss Marples! Apart from some fact research around Covid19 ability to move…(as the powers to be want us who got locked in here to do)….this is creating undue stress, as our emergency bolthole is Dads, a No go as dad is in a high risk category, can’t give my tenants notice during this time (and wouldn’t want to as they are medical essential workers) and when lockdown eases – I believe the 6 weeks notice period for tennants is increasing to 90 days! These are extraordinary times and kindness and a little leeway would go a long way….I wish Russell and Ron were still here they’d sort it!

The walk up the valley was peaceful, carless, people less and pushed away the soreness in my hip….the road did not feel like a road…

The beach did feel like a beach in autumn, a firm easterly, a small wave and no people….just the way I like it!

Blue skies, blue sea, back to the cottage….as a walk is a walk and not a stop in lockdown…

Limping Larry loves Len….hearing human voices was inspiration enough to leave the feijoa tree and limp across to visit….Larry thinks he’s human now all the ducks hang out at Waiwera place (down the road) on the berm and Larry lives under the feijoa tree in Riverhaven.

Our other bubble (Dan) appeared on his new wheels – skateboard – at dinner time and cooked the burgers

The Big Bonnici Burger…. will Maccas or BK even open after this….we are all cooking homemade with no takeaways or cafes or bakeries…..now what to do with the rubber like lemon honey!

P.S. we cracked the 1000 cases yesterday….it is still active in our communities, I hope this level 4 continues until zero cases…..for a number of days

Sunday April 5th – day 11, 5.00am, daylight saving has ended but my body clock has not adjusted!

Yesterday, while the Miss Marples where otherwise engaged, and limping Larry was lounging under the feijoa tree (easy access to constant food supply), the Waiwera locals were on the alert!

The boys in blue visit the camp again…The Riverhaven tractor (while currently not needed to tow boats) was retrieving stolen safes from the Riverhaven point…Hidden under a duvet and still containing amounts of money that couldn’t be reached from the hacksawed hole…

Meanwhile the building crew at my other bubble were hard at work…

Both benches finished with the assistance of local supplies, Dans neighbour supplied the bolts and Pete the painter had some black paint (which we had run out of) for the iron….like in the 60s and 70s when all the neighbours lent stuff to each other to finish a project and you didn’t run to the hardware store every five minutes (cause like now we can’t!) Community spirit is high and everyone is helping each other from behind their gates!

I just helped hold the screwdriver for the finishing touches!

The rest of Larry’s extended family is hanging out by the derelict Waiwera hot pools where there is shade…the birds are taking over the roads. The odd car is certainly 2nd place to walkers, wildlife and two wheelers!

On the topic of two wheelers, around 4pm yesterday, I heard my gate bang (well the riverhaven gate by my cottage that has become my responsibility in this lockdown)….before I could open my mouth, three Lycra-clad silver foxes (middle age, middle class arrogant men) rode their expensive bikes past my front door like they owned the place! Lookout Len (our caretaker) caught them at the turn (as they said they were visiting a friend – a no no in lockdown – they obviously weren’t very bright) and shooed them out the main gate. For the 3rd time I sanitised the gate latch and surrounds, every time it is not me or my bubble, I do this!

The Miss Marples have also been informed that new humans (we have car make, model and rego handy if needed) have moved into number 22 The Strand, the big yellow house on the waterfront, that usually operates as an Airbnb rental, but moving in mid lockdown…..more information is needed.

To put a full stop after broken leg (he was the man sneaking his daughters in and out of camp last week), has managed to sneak back, over the last couple of days, and retrieve his 2nd car that was parked across the road (or its been stolen -either way it’s gone).

In summary, 82 new cases yesterday, we are tapping on the 1000, but maintaining same daily positives with increased testing…is this a good sign? Time will tell.

And while those around me were active, my greatest achievement of the day was producing a very unsuccessful batch of lemon honey….can probably use it as a stress ball! (Solid but malleable – probably not edible and no image available!)

April 4th 2020, day 10 of lockdown 7.30am

Sunrise on day 9, courtesy of my neighbour who… 1. Wakes early and 2. Lives on the waterfront so doesn’t have to walk 50 meters in pjs to take the shot!

The sun rises and the sea is calm….the last week has been perfect for boating with all water activity banned in lockdown.

Yesterday morning I woke rather worse for wear from my workout with Floyd (dog) the day before…the lower back from the resistance pulling was having trouble getting moving….ok so now I understand why old people have those little dogs! Needless to say Floyd didn’t get a walk with me yesterday. I took four lists to the supermarket and filled up a big trolley (following all the rules) then packed all orders into separate bags once I returned to the car, and started the drop off courier deliveries outside gates and doors….ending up at home in desperate need of a loo visit (all public toilets are closed and I cannot enter anyone’s house to use the bathroom).

Morning gone, early afternoon I was off for a gentle stroll, to walk out the stiffness and got called to work at my other bubble…

The workstation outside number 17 now sports the old gazebo for shade…amazing how much we are reusing and recycling when we can’t leap in the car and buy new…

So, it began like this….breaking up the 2nd bench seat and getting rusted bolts out, joint effort! The makita power tools mum lesson…not sure what I was assigned, but it was a drill thing with a handle (long) to hold with the other hand and apply pressure, the thing on the end was a wire brush which zoomed around at a million miles (careful to keep Floyd’s nose out). This was then applied to all the wrought iron rusted bits….grinding it back to a paintable surface. Easy you say….the pattern on the back slab is “Tulips”….Two hours of this activity, numb fingers and thumbs, with the back all prepped (still two arms to go) I retired to prepare the roast for the evening meal!

Another of our diligent neighbours who has no chairs to repair has been using their time building signs to set strategically around our community…as this virus spreads in our country despite the drastic lockdown measures out government has taken. Only days before the lockdown day, even though the warning signs were apparent, teenagers gathered in parks (spreading a large cluster through and Auckland secondary school), large wedding gatherings, st paddy’s day celebrations (infecting a pub lot of revellers) and small outbreaks from overseas travellers not self isolating and returning to the workplace.. I think kiwis are now getting it, as the gloved and masked humans only venture out to get food…and the media is reporting the spread constantly and reiterating how easy it is to catch. I feel sorry for my Aussie family and friends who are trying to eradicate this disease, while people around them seriously do not understand….A bubble is a bubble of like minded supportive people who are staying home and staying safe!

April 3rd 2020 7.15am – day 9 begins. Learning to sleep in…vary my exercise…talk about something else…and date to look ahead!

Yesterday began, coolish and fine, promising another sunny autumn day! It was run day for George, so I decided I would walk up the valley for a more gentle stroll …. smell the nature and stretch the muscles!

Well good intentions…I walk past Dans Gate (who is part of my bubble as he lives alone) and he was out beavering away repairing my park benches (at 8.00am) – so Floyd (the canine grandson) was looking longingly through the gate….Floyd being a 50 kg Bull Mastiff x boxer x lab or something. I offered to take him on my solo walk, as dogs are now not allowed off leash at all (I figured he couldn’t run off after a cow or something)…..we started with the expected Tug of war as he was excited to be out, but this continued to a two hour training lesson, Floyd pulling, me pulling back, sitting, walking in circles, short leash…. long leash, change hands…two hands…..you name it, it was a battle of the wits. Don’t get me wrong there were some “good boy!” times and slow gentle walking in between the 2 hour full body workout for both of us!

We made it to the state hwy 1 bridge as planned, after my return I decided it was a bridge too far on first day training session.

And so did Floyd, after a big drink of water this was his proposed activity for the rest of the day..

Back to my cottage where George was working, I did a bit of work, it’s very minimal these lockdown days 1-2 hours a day when I have emails to respond to, almost all our clients are not operating during this time. Load of washing, lunch, then the call came to help with the final bolting together of my renovated bench seat!

Just a bit of background – these seats are 15 years old, brought at food town for $80 back then and were destined for the dump! Dad and Dan decided they were worth saving and repairing…so they sat broken at the side of my cottage all summer (being a health and safety hazard).

Ok so Dad and Dan were right – three days of mahi to get to this stage…

Dan having a rest on the finished product! And very happy with his work…now in this lockdown we need to find some more nuts and bolts to work on the 2nd one…only essential services are being supplied with any building supplies.

Three times I had tried to have a moment to read….finally got a half hour after getting dinner prepared before my social distancing happy hour….that’s another story, a whole new way of drinking!

P.s. limping Larry is doing ok…I offered him a frozen lettuce but I think he is enjoying the rotting feijoas.

April 2nd 2020, day 8 of lockdown begins….a very different day ahead than the one envisaged four weeks ago! Which was…Packing, car shuffling, saying goodbyes and winging it to Houston, Texas…and George carrying on back to his work life in the UK . Now, It will be more of local walking, jobs around cottage, book reading (for Sue) and remote working (for George) and Food!

Oh and talking to my new pet….limping Larry the lame duck, he kind of just hangs out at bach 10 around the grey “beer pong” table…just like all the young ones do over summer…I can pretend we still have social activity (even if it is only a duck with a crippled leg)

Yesterday’s exercise involved a reverse circuit of the Waiwera-Wenderholm hill, and more of a bush walk…which at midday was a wise decision – temperatures still hitting mid 20s in the sun!

Then the up began..

So far so good…,still half a bottle of water left…

Not a fan of steps and coupled with a constant uphill gradient, water bottle getting low… decided I would find some great view/Bush pictures to share….really just an excuse to have a small rest (my legs are a lot shorter and older than George’s) – here goes.

Wenderholm from 3/4 of the way up – the sea was bluer and the detail hard to capture on an iPhone image!

George framed by a canopy of palm trees, a pleasant flat walk before the decent.

This Bush critter, stretched out on the native flora…I need a name – he’s actually a log but at first glance I expected him to run away..,

The downward tramping track..looking back up or looking down? Either way it’s a good knee workout!

And back to the house..energy expended. To isolation , lockdown, quarantine, social distancing, staying in the bubble….sanitising…..just a whole new way of doing things. Taking your own beer for a social drink , now means taking your own beer, chair and ensuring you are 3 meters (any body part) from your pal…no hugs or looking at each other’s phones or sharing of anything…a human must be totally self sufficient. We are doing this, hang in there Kiwis!