Sunday 24th May 2020. The day of rest before another week of reality.

Yesterday was brisket on the BBQ day and Jaxon was up at 3am to set the scene. I woke as usual at 6am, pulled on the trackpants, made a coffee and joined him on his deck to watch the morning roll in. And roll in it did, the mist rolled down the river in a white blanket as the sun rose, we could hear the waves crashing on the shore a couple of hundred meters away. Captured in time in a whole new world.

As I headed back towards the beach the waves (big for this east coast beach) were hitting the sea wall.

The valley mist still touching the sea, clinging to the breakers.

Back to reality from my moments of magical mist and sunrise….The rest of the morning was filled with house cleaning at new abode, then a lockdown clean for my cottage over the fence. Dan did the family bit and helped the Riverhaven crew install the new water tanks, George vacuumed the new house, while I scrubbed and washed and put to bed my cottage for the winter. Another weight lifted, as having to vacate under pressure to hand the gate key back the same day, after I had finished work, left me no time to clean and clear. Yesterday however, I could put all the nonsense behind me, did the right thing, signed in and out and didn’t see a sign of the Riverhaven crew. (As Russ used to say…”Just the ????” ….those that knew him will finish this sentence)

Jobs done, we took a trip to the mall (after lockdown running shoes desperately needed). It was like the day before Christmas! Car parks full and traffic stationery and hundreds of non distanced humans. In and out, one store only, backing off from those walking straight at us. Escaping as quickly as possible, hands sanitised and in car headed north within 20 minutes for our weekly cuppa with Dad and Sandy.

We dealt with the new internet booster (that finally arrived after two weeks) and now have 5G internet throughout our new house, linked to my cottage (one advantage of being over the fence). 99 dollars well spend as a one off. At least I don’t have to pay for another connection. (I have my own at the cottage, as Riverhavens’ is too intermittent for us to work)

The afternoon saw a raft of different visitors to Waiwera as the sea presented a surf break near the island….surfers! Reminiscent of my Muriwai, west coast, childhood.

Surfing at Waiwera a bi annual event! (If we are lucky)

The evening found us back up at Jax and stephs for the pit masters brisket BBQ….

My wonderful crazy family, fire pit, music, beer pong and great food! The 3am early morning start was worth it….the best brisket ever!

23rd May 2020….the winter sunshine continues to warm our days and our hearts, at least for part of the days before it disappears (early) behind the hills.

Yesterday was almost Shorts and T’shirt weather while we were working in our sunny office! After a chilly start, supermarket done and dusted by 8am, the sun streamed in our dining area, home office while we beavered away for the bulk of the day.

It really felt like Friday again, after another full weeks work and we all gathered at Jax’s house at 3.30pm, Steph, Dan, George and I, to sing Jaxon happy birthday when he drove in….let the fun begin.

A late afternoon and evening of laughter and Hugs! Yes we can hug now…with our bubble buddies.

Steph brought Jaxon a fire pit….and what a success it warmed our bodies and our souls, and burnt off a lot of wood rubbish lying around the property.

As the sun went down and the boom box played…we were joined by our bubble buddy Jacquie and her family for an evening of laughs. Not exceeding our 10 party limit, in fact just hitting the magic number when Trudi joined us after a full day of work.

Chinese takeaways, shouted by Dan, and home to fall asleep on the couch before 9pm!

It’s all about family and friends, giving and supporting, laughing and loving and making the most of the great moments…or making moments great. My boys are following in Russ’s footsteps and getting really good at this! We’ve got to keep this fire going. Today is BBQ day, Jax will be up already stoking the fire pit!

May 22nd 2020…today is Jaxon’s birthday, another first in our year without Russ and Mum. Thank goodness we are all together.

Yesterday morning the Tuis sang in the sunrise, view from my back step. Rather noisy little fellows, when they yell to each other from tree to tree!

It was a kind of weird day, Jax found out redundancy is a high possibility, Dan is moving right along with his house plans, Riverhaven is still locked down and devoid of life and George and I worked side by side in our new normal workspace!

Floyd is at his house while everyone comes and goes but happy with all his humans in and out all day. Steph is still at home waiting for the call back to work, hopefully within the next month. But not to let the grass grow under her feet…

While the boys sat in my warm house, Steph took to the beach with all her beach fishing gear, warm clothes and headlight! Another Kawhai to add to the tally, she is definitely in the lead!

Meanwhile, Jax is sporting another mum haircut to show off on his birthday, result of our evening activities!

And now it’s off to the supermarket 7am on a Friday morning for the weekly shop before launching into the work day and evening birthday celebrations…

May 21st 6.30 am….been lying awake for an hour willing myself to get in the shower! Actually woken by Auckland Transport..sending their half hourly buses to Waiwera to collect the hundreds of retirees who commute from Waiwera to Auckland.

Step back….right through the last eight weeks (lockdown) the Waiwera bus service has been unrelenting, on time, and lined up, down the street (when one goes another pulls in to the beach bus stop)

I just found out in the weekend that the buses were free for all in lockdown, but as we were all isolating no one stepped aboard. They came (and still come) from 5.30am until 11.30pm every day, left empty and the next empty one rolled in. Sure this was keeping the bus drivers employed, but at what expense? They could have been home gardening like the rest of NZ on the wage subsidy. And they couldn’t even use Waiwera as their toilet stop (as many used to) with the public toilets wired closed.

Surely this is a waste of resources, no one catches the early buses. Even now, the couple of retirees, who do make the odd excursion to Orewa for supplies, wait until after 9.00am, as it is free for folks over 65 after this time. (Not a profitable operation for Auckland transport)

Waking us all up at 5.30am, with a steady drum of hydraulic breaking , as they stop outside waiting for their turn at the bus stop is becoming rather antisocial.

Yesterday I saw the real world with a trip to the workplace warehouse. I saw motorways, cars, harbour bridge, cars, trucks, more motorway, more cars and trucks! After a journey there in the morning and a journey back in the afternoon I was reassured of the benefits of working from home! Certainly don’t miss the travelling (and can put up with the bus wake up calls). I do miss the face to face client contact, but we are not really allowed to do that yet!

Anyway the fifth bus for the morning is now parked outside my window (7.00am), lining up for the prime position, yes empty on arrival and no one queueing at the bus stop, to get in first to get the back seat! It must be time to step forth for the day, the sky is lightening and the world is waking up (those who weren’t at 5.30am).

May 20th, 2020, waking up to warm house….20 degrees Celsius compared to 8 degrees yesterday morning.

I have given up on the fire, while it has that feel good look, the heat generation is minimal and the cost is high.

A quick trip to The Warehouse yesterday saw me lash out on their most powerful, expensive, fan blasting model of heater, all for a mere $79.00. So here we find ourselves this morning to a thermostatically controlled 20 degrees.

Yesterday morning produced an orange sunrise and what followed was a cloudless winters day…still the jeans and jersey type, but sunshine sneaking in every corner it could find.

A crockpot fail saw my dinner ready at midday, put the cook level on high rather than low so it boiled rather than bubbled and got turned off at lunch and reheated for dinner!

Yesterday I took the time to pen a letter to Riverhaven, not sure to who or whether anyone will really care! Just took these things out of my head and put them on paper… a reality hit when I had finished, and a little sadness. The short summary was that the fun, friendly, kind, community spirit that we all bought into and built up over the years (a big part of Russ) has been chipped away at, leaving us with an environment we all feel uncomfortable with and don’t want to be part of. Anyway it’s out there in the universe now and a weight off, I can at least enjoy the community of Waiwera and the kind folks that call this their home for the winter.

Time to leap out of bed…and face another day, it’s a biggie. Today is the day I support the local petrol stations and travel to the other side of Auckland for a work meeting! But first a couple of hours at the keyboard, as I am not upending the work setup for a few hours in a different location….then I hit the road, and undoubtedly traffic as the city is 75% back to normal. So far so good. But first….feet on floor. Then, it’s “what to wear?” A question I haven’t asked myself in eight weeks! “Do I bother with makeup?” Don’t usually, why start now? And the day of a working girl begins, already this remote work life feels like a nest I want to be in forever!

Tuesday 19th May 2020…

I may not be spending three hours a day in my car sitting in traffic, but seriously I barely have time to clean my teeth.

As the world cranks up and the internet explodes, yesterday I found myself sitting in one place for 7 hours straight! Grabbing a coffee, or hanging out washing, a welcome five minutes of upright exercise in a morning of electronic communications. Some still take a lunch break thank goodness…and while waiting for answers…

I managed to take a 30 minute break and visit a lonely boy (all his other humans were working again). No cuddles just a run to a sunny spot and straight to sleep and snoring…a little more in common with me than originally thought!

Back to work and computer off by 3.30pm! Another visit to my canine grand baby, sun now gone and the offspring appeared home…

So we burnt the last three pieces of wood and kindling and even the box it came in ( wringing out every cents worth of expensive firewood). George made the most of the dwindling flames. Having already decided that $10 a day in power is more efficient than $50 a day in firewood!

Thank goodness for the new crockpot…dinner was ready at 6pm with little fuss as the darkness was enveloping our world of shorter and shorter days.

Bedtime is early and we we wake early ready to face our Tuesday by 6.00am! Slipping through the kitchen to grab a coffee on the way to work.. 6 steps!

Monday 18th May 2020 – today is normal for many Kiwis as children head back to school, shops are open and humans come face to face after eight weeks of change.

For many the change is permanent as we look down the barrel of job loss and work isolation. No more will I battle the traffic on a daily basis as I roll out of bed and grab my morning coffee on my way to my work station at the other end of the kitchen.

The weekend saw life in NZ herald a nation out of jail! The gloves and masks were ditched by most and every man and his dog took to the streets.

Dan brought Floyd (dog) to visit our new abode, he is allowed to visit on the deck, but it was far to exciting for a nervous dog! People drove up and unloaded 5 dogs, 4 horses, and another 2 horses, and a constant stream of one person one dog walkers, all within five meters of the gate! The above was all action in a half hour period…far too stressful for a fur baby who really only likes humans.

Seven white doves live in the plum tree out back and sing to us all day…

The afternoon brought a visit from Dad and Sandy, and as the overcast sky dropped temperatures we decided it was time to light the fire…

Jaxon has always had an attachment to fire and took control, and an afternoon of game playing saw this heating mode chew up $50 worth of wood. May need to reconsider our heating options at this price or scour the neighbourhood for free firewood!

The new crockpot produced a fantastic dinner and it was an early night all round ready for the “working” week ahead….

Looking like a week ahead of winter sunshine, great for washing but not helping the water shortage problem we now have in Auckland….The boats remain safely parked in their garages as no hoses (for cleaning) can be used until the restrictions are lifted!

Sunday 17th May 2020…the new normal is normal by all activity observations yesterday. And I only ventured 20 kms away..

Orewa activity was reminiscent of a mid summers day. Cafes were humming, more than one person in the shops (three people followed me into the bakery and made me a little anxious), throngs of people on the streets and cars were bumper to bumper on the coast road all the way to Dads house.

Morning tea with dad, Sandy working (remotely) in the home office, off to Truds storage then a long awaited visit to our friend Barry’s new place at Arkles bay, a few Kms further down the coast.

As Barry was a bit later than expected, a 5 minute stroll from his house brought us to his little bit of paradise, the Arkles Bay beach. The south easterly making it a little fresh for dawdling, while a bluebird day looking back towards Auckland city. We still had time to grab a coffee and a crockpot, unusual combination you may think. Well as the warehouse was near the first coffee shop we found, no queues and almost deserted, and the only thing on my post lockdown shopping list was a crockpot we hopped in and brought the last one! Oh and a new pair of work pants….olive green track pants, perfect for sitting at the computer at home!

Had a chat with Barry, met a couple of his neighbours (from a distance) drank our coffee and headed back to our neighbourhood early afternoon, glad to be out of the turmoil.

As boat fishing, with the water restrictions and no hoses, was going to make a day at sea rather tedious upon return (unable to wash boat, flush motor or hose tractor) the boys set themselves up with a longline off Dans Ute and a kayak to paddle it out! Steph and Aaron fished off the beach. They all had a great afternoon in the winter sun, Steph the only winner with a trevally made into sashimi for a pre dinner snack!

These fishing restrictions may be the reason the Riverhaven Bach stayers are limited to a handful. It’s not like there is kids sport or events to keep folk occupied…possibly catching up with family for the first time in eight weeks, or having some retail therapy. I hope, for my clients sake, the latter and bag orders pour in on Monday!

The evening concluded with a social happy hour with a couple of friends (5 including us, well within the 10 limit). A steak and salad for George and I and early early night!

Sunday, should do a food shop before the week starts…back to a routine it seems

Saturday, May 16th 2020…waking up to a cool calm morning, the sky is just starting to lighten at 6.30am and the Tuis are yelling to each other from the treetops. We wonder what the first Saturday of level two will bring; humans, cars, social gatherings (of 10) and undoubtedly a shopping frenzy for retail starved kiwis.

As the sun set on Friday night, a calm descended on our neighbourhood, the wind had dropped and the outsiders trickled in to their holiday Baches setting up camp for what promises to be a fine winter weekend.

Riverhaven will once again come to life, without the Bonnici-Carter’s who are now free of padlocks, warning signs, rules and ridicule! The lump in my throat had gone and is replaced by the warmth of family and friends, as we settle in for a kiwi winter.

A week of computer lockdown will be replaced by domestic activity and coffee catch ups.

With only a little more than a month away from the shortest day, we can look forward to next summer when, hopefully, the virus is swept under the mat and we can all get on with our plans and dreams and maybe go fishing!

The last two months, where time has stood still, we have had time to ponder our lives, our goals and our (uncertain) futures. This time has provided a welcome break from the treadmill we had come to accept as normal! The new normal has become tracksuit days, working from home, flexible working hours, planning the weeks meals, talking to each other and getting to really know our neighbours. We have shared our resources, reduced waste, had carless days and early nights and we have learned to give each other space (they now call it social distancing).

Yes the economy is uncertain (probably an understatement), but kiwi determination is strong to rebuild and renew all we have to work with. It is the time to be kind to those around us who are less fortunate, some may be jobless, some may be homeless, some may be hungry! (Well George always is).

And now the sun is up and the birds are still singing, let the weekend begin!

Friday 15th May 2020….A new normal

It actually feels like a Friday, work (from home) has settled in to a 6-8 hour day, five days a week, and a break at 10.30…

Which is usually a walk (400 metres) down the road to spend 30 minutes with Floyd and say hi to Steph. A lunch break around 1pm means 10 minutes watching the Covid 19 updates then work until about 4….time to get tea ready and relax…

In my new back garden with my old friends, who consequently were very vocal yesterday…cooing (that’s what doves do) away at George and I while we were working. They are kinda fat at the moment, knowing nothing about doves, breeding time? Or winter coat?

The new Normal of Level two is like the Christmas shopping Rush, or the pre lockdown toilet paper Rush. The supermarkets have longer queues than last week, mall car parks were full yesterday, food halls and cafes crazy….the warehouse saw trolleys of stuff leave its doors and cars and bad drivers are all back on the road! I guess, confidence is rising, with three days of zero new cases of coronavirus in our country, kiwis are thinking that they are safe. Bubbles are just bursting everywhere. People will get closer but we need to keep mindful, only we can now protect ourselves, keep our distance and keep washing the hands! No problem from this end…stay away from Riverhaven because that apparently is going to be a live bed of people touching things they shouldn’t…like locked gates and tractors! And just saying with the water use ban coming into force tomorrow – how are all the boaties going to wash their boats or tractors after a days fishing? These are government rules with big fines attached for breaking them!

On another note…the plant of strength at my new abode…Mint! We will not want for mint sauce with our lamb this winter! And health properties of inhaling and consuming this herb are many – beneficial to our digestion and wellbeing! Let’s get creative; mint tea, mint water, mint smoothies, mint salads, this list goes on.

Opening my eyes this morning in our new home, feels like a weight has lifted and I have been let out of Jail. Here, I feel like an adult once again and no eyes are on me. I feel motivated to get up and attack my day, build my vege soup, build my clients back up and build my confidence back up! With out even leaving my home!