That's All, Folks!

It may surprise you to know that New Zealand is still operating under the Orange traffic light setting for Covid 19. Where nearly all other countries have dropped any kind of restrictions – as was evident on our recent trip to the UK and Europe, where there was very little, if any, mask-wearing in evidence – New Zealand still has restrictions on people entering the country, and requirements for testing upon entry. 

At least, up until yesterday. At the stroke of midnight, all restrictions for people in New Zealand, and those entering, were dropped. This brings us into line with…er…most of the rest of the world. There are some exceptions (medical facilities and aged care in particular), but we are now free from requirements to wear masks on buses, planes etc, and can come and go as we please from other countries. The government, rather than moving to the Green setting on the traffic light system, has scrapped the system completely. So poor Green never saw the light of day, it was only a theoretical setting.

So that’s it, until the next one.

 

…And Relax (A Bit)

Today’s announcement of the relaxation of some rules around Covid provide a bit of relief to the beleaguered hospitality and entertainment industries. Not much, but a bit. From Saturday 26^th March, we will still be under the red traffic light setting, but…

·         Indoor gatherings can increase from 100 to 200 people

·         Outdoor gatherings are now unlimited

·         Masks no longer required outdoors

·         QR code scanning is no longer required

And from 5^th April…

·         Vaccine passes no longer required

·         Mandates for certain sectors to be vaccinated (all except health and aged care, border workers and corrections) to be removed.

The traffic light setting will also be reviewed on 4^th April.

Hooray! Unfortunately, this is too late to help Ladyhawke, who has decided to cancel (rather than postpone again) her Time Flies tour ☹. Hopefully, by the time of Midnight Oil’s gig on 10 May, restrictions will have been loosened further to allow indoor concerts to take place.

Moves were already afoot ahead of today’s announcement to get back to pub quiz, as this is still allowable under the red setting, but with a maximum 100 people. This was cancelled by the pub and quizmaster as they wanted to protect themselves as much as possible. The new 200-person limit is higher than the capacity of the Old Bailey, so no worries there.

This also means that the remaining matches of the cricket World Cup and Super Rugby can be played with no restrictions. Sadly, the White Ferns have not been doing too well so it looks unlikely that they’ll make the semi-finals, so we won’t be seeing them in action again. We may look at going to see the Hurricanes in action, though.

 With any luck, the next announcement will see a move to Orange setting, and things will get back to neo-normal.

 

  

Border Announcement

The New Zealand government are relaxing the rules around Managed Isolation/Quarantine (MIQ) for New Zealanders. This is effectively re-opening the borders of New Zealand. This will be done in a phased approach, with New Zealanders in Australia able to return home from February 27^th, and from other countries from March 13, without the need to enter MIQ, but self-isolating at home.

Yippee!

This is the news we’ve been waiting for, as our trip to the Northern hemisphere is dependent on being able to get back to New Zealand afterwards. It involves self-isolating on return, and taking and submitting RAT results on day 0 and day 5. The self-isolation period by then should only be one week, or may (optimistic scenario) have been abandoned altogether – the isolation period will remain under review.

OK, time to start some serious planning now…

Red Traffic Light

It appears that the omicron variant has arrived in New Zealand. Predictably, the government has rushed to shut everything down again. The new system of traffic lights has been invoked and the entire country will go to the Red setting from midnight tonight.

 

The Red setting isn’t as bad as the old Level 4 and Level 3 lockdowns, in fact it’s similar to the old Level 2. Gatherings are still allowed up to 100 people indoors or out, and work and transport still goes on, although office workers are encouraged to work from home. Mask wearing and scanning are compulsory, and most businesses have now set themselves up for vaccine passport scanning.

At Zealandia, tours still go ahead with a maximum of eight people per tour. I’ve been doing a lot of tours over the past few weeks as this is the busiest period for us, even with no international tourists – people from all around the country have been visiting Wellington during the school holidays and coming to Zealandia a lot. It is, after all, the number one paid attraction in the capital. I’ll continue to take tours as needed, and also continue with the volunteer Valley Guiding that I usually do at weekends.

What does this mean for sporting events? They’ll still go ahead behind closed doors, so our plans to watch the finals of the Super Smash T20 cricket tournament are in tatters. Also, the ICC Women’s World Cup of Cricket, due to start in a few weeks, is under threat. It all really depends on what happens over the coming weeks. Similarly, gigs will be cancelled or rescheduled (for the third time, for Ladyhawke) unless the settings are reduced in pretty short order.

Hopefully, a managed spread of the disease, without overwhelming the health system, will enable New Zealand to start treating it as endemic, rather than pandemic, some time soon. We are still planning to get to the Northern hemisphere around the middle of this year…watch this space.

Traffic Lights

It’s quiet…too quiet. Yes, whilst the rest of the world has been getting on with life, New Zealand has continued in lockdown, at Level 2 for most of the country (maximum gathering size 100, so no festivals, concerts, gigs, sports crowds, or anything generally fun), and Auckland remaining in Level 3 – even worse, but they’ve recently introduced some easing of restrictions so you can get a haircut and a take-away. Just as a reminder, we went into a “3-day lockdown” on August 18^th, and have now been under the current restrictions for 106 days. That’s in addition to three shorter periods earlier in the year, bringing the total number of days under some kind of restriction to 123 days so far this year.

On Friday, though, that all changes, as the government does away with the old Level 1 - Level 4 system, and introduces the new Traffic Lights. Most of the country will move to Orange, whilst Auckland and surounding areas, and some parts of Northland, will remain at Red. No-one will get Green. The difference between the new and old systems is the level of freedom which will be afforded to vaccinated compared to the unvaxxed, and also how businesses will trade depending on whether they adopt the Government’s new app allowing them to capture the vaccination status of their customers. As vaccination rates in New Zealand top 90%, the dwindling number of deniers will find themselves unable to access any venues which demand a vaccination passport.

What does this mean for us? Cricket matches at The Basin – with crowds! There’s the Super Smash T20 competition coming up, and a lot of test matches, so that’s good. Gigs – Ladyhawke is still rearranging hers, but we have tix to see You Am I and Midnight Oil next year. Theatre – we can go to Circa, although they have remained open in Level 2, with just a restriction on numbers. Cinemas no longer need to block off alternate rows of seats. Pub quiz – we no longer have to remain seated at our tables, and the pub can undo the spacing of tables and allow – whisper it! – standing! Bar service! As far as Zealandia goes, tour groups can return to full size, so hopefully we’ll start seeing a pick-up in tour visitors over the Christmas and New Year period.

We’re still waiting for the abolition of MIQ in its entirety, but travel is now allowed into New Zealand in a phased programme, starting with fully-vaxxed returning New Zealanders and eligible Australians, from Australia: 17 January; fully-vaxxed New Zealanders from “non-high risk” countries (currently 9 Southern African countries plus Papua New Guinea) from 14 February; and foreign nationals from “non-high risk” countries from 1 May. Travellers not going into MIQ must test negative pre-departure and on arrival, self-isolate for 7 days, and get a final negative test before “entering the community”. This isn’t really going to work for the tourist industry, is it? “Hey, come to New Zealand and spend your first week self-isolating!”

Further details are “to follow” on this, but at least it looks like our trip to the Northern hemisphere next year will now be feasible.

Level 2 Again

After a further week at Covid Level 4 with takeaways, aka Level 3, we are now back to alert Level 2. Of course, they’ve changed the rules (again) so this is the Delta variant of level 2. It involves more compulsory mask-wearing (with no-one to compel you, obvs), and restrictions on the number of people who can be in the same place, reduced to 50 from 100 last time. How long these restrictions will remain in place remains to be seen, but at least we can go out now and start to do some normal things. Today, I went to the dentist and got a haircut (not at the same time). Nicola has got some Driving Miss Daisy work so she is also able to do that. 

Other things that are starting up will be volunteering at Zealandia, from next week onwards; training the new volunteers, which is still to be arranged; my photography course (so I’d better get on and finish (start) my homework); and, hopefully, pub quiz in an actual pub again. Toastmasters have decided that at level 2 they’re still doing virtual meetings via Zoom…I’m not quite sure why, but I’m sure they have their reasons.

Auckland, of course, is still in hard lockdown Level 4, whilst they deal with the 800+ cases of the outbreak there. How long that remains the case is still anyone’s guess. The next review of levels is on Monday 13^th September, but I’m not optimistic that anything will change then.

Down One Level

As of 11:59pm last night, all of New Zealand apart from Auckland and Northland went down to Covid Alert Level 3. Auckland and Northland remain at Level 4 whilst the current Delta variant outbreak is contained, as they are still reporting new cases daily. This is largely as a result of the delay in testing and getting results. Unfortunately, the instruction to “self-isolate at home” if you have the disease is impractical in many households where multigenerational families all live in cramped conditions, so once one person gets it, the chances are the whole household will eventually become infected.

 

Level 3 allows the opening of take-away food for contactless delivery and pick-up. I had high hopes of being able to get back into our Loggy B’s ordering for LB At Yours, but could find no mention of it on their website…so I emailed them, and they replied that they’re not doing it this time. Their logic is, presumably, that we’re expecting Level 3 to only last a week before being reduced to Level 2, at which point they’ll be able to open up with distanced tables. This is in marked contrast to last time, when we didn’t know how long Level 3 would last (it turned out to 16 days). The review for this time around is on 6^th September, and with no new cases reported in Wellington since the weekend, and the expectation of no new cases in the community, it seems likely that we’ll go to Level 2 at that time. All the Wellington cases reported so far have been linked to the Auckland outbreak, and subsequently travelled to Wellington, and infected family members here.

I also took a look at The Larder’s offerings on their website, but when I looked in the morning they only had coffees. Since then they’ve updated their website, but I’d already put in my order for Gorilla Burger. We’ll give The Larder a try tomorrow – they’ve got quite a wide selection.

Other than that, Level 3 looks much the same as level 4. We can, theoretically, go swimming, surfing or paddleboarding, but I don’t think we’ll be doing any of those just yet. Quiz will continue to be online for at least one more week, but maybe by mid-September we’ll be back at the Old Bailey.

 

 

Vaccination Destination

New Zealand’s Covid-19 vaccination rollout is picking up pace, with those over 30 now eligible to book a jab. I booked mine when the over-50’s age group first opened up, what seems like an age ago before the latest Level 4 lockdown. Was it really only 9^th August that I booked it? And did we really only go to Level 4 on 18^th? It would appear so. Since then, the government have been boasting about record numbers of people being vaccinated at new drive-through centres. It would be interesting to know how many of those are people who’ve already booked, though. 

Our little local centre is at a church hall in Miramar, so there was a bit more of a wait between booking and jab. Nevertheless, it rolled around today, and I duly turned up 10 minutes early, got checked in, checked and vaccinated with no fuss, no mess (and, fortunately, no piping hot casserole). After the jab, I was told to sit for 15 minutes to make sure I didn’t go into anaphylactic shock, and after that time was up, was happily sent on my way. I popped into New World on the way back to pick up some fresh veg, and now I’m back home.

Next appointment is in three weeks’ time.

The Delta Strain

Once more unto the breach, dear friends…

New Zealand recently opened up travel bubbles with Australia and Cook Islands, allowing two-way quarantine-free travel between these countries. Unfortunately, Australia is not quite as Covid-free as we’d like to think, and last weekend a traveller from Sydney arrived in Wellington, had a helluva good time, and then departed back home on Monday; he started to feel ill, and subsequently tested positive for Covid. This has led to Wellington being moved up to Alert Level 2 from Wednesday until Sunday, with a review on Sunday to assess the situation. Sydney, meanwhile, is in a lockdown due to an exploding cluster of the highly-contagious Delta variant, which has now increased to over 100 cases. New Zealand has temporarily suspended travel with New South Wales.

 

How to have a good time in Wellington

We were due to fly to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands on Thursday; but with the announcement at lunchtime on Wednesday, it seemed less than 100% certain that we would be able to go, especially as we’d visited the Te Papa Surrealist Art exhibition on Tuesday, one of the “Places of Interest” that the infected person had also visited; even though we’d gone three days later. I checked with our local testing centre and they said we didn’t need to get tested (Nicola is vaccinated anyway).

As part of the travel arrangement with Cook Islands, you have to fill in a contact form with details of where you’ll be staying, etc. It also asks if you’ve been to any Places of Interest. We duly completed this, listing that we’d been to Te Papa and the advice we’d been given about testing by Wellington DHB.

At this stage, there was no suggestion, or indication, that we couldn’t go. I’d also spoken to Air New Zealand, who’d given no hint that they wouldn’t carry us. However, through an abundance of caution on our part, and the fact that we’d had no contact from Cook Island Ministry of Health, we decided to postpone our travel plans. Fortunately our accommodation refunded us, and we have flight credits with Air New Zealand.

The following morning, 13 people who’d travelled from Wellington were removed from the Cook Islands flight NZ940 – the flight we would’ve been on – because they’d been in Wellington. So it looks like we made the right decision.

But I was fuming. Why did they wait until PEOPLE WERE BOARDING THE PLANE before taking action? The organisation is a complete shambles. In response to a story in Stuff, I wrote an email detailing this. The Stuff reporter contacted me the next day and asked whether I was still planning to travel, to which I said “yes”. But this wasn’t the story she wanted to write, so I didn’t get quoted. Instead she wrote about how people had no confidence in the travel bubble. People from Wellington have since been permitted to travel to Rarotonga if they haven’t listed any Places of Interest…so why were these 13 denied travel? In response to being badgered, Air New Zealand have finally refunded their airfares from Wellington and contributed to their accommodation costs overnight in Auckland. But if they knew this already, why didn't they act sooner? What a shitshow.

It now appears that the Sydney traveller wasn’t infectious, as no cases have subsequently been detected in Wellington over the last four days, despite extensive testing. We’ll be able to rebook to travel, but have now missed the crucial “kids are still in school” window that we’d been hoping for. Ah well. I'll check out accommodation and flight options again tomorrow.

Blackcaps vs. Australia

The Blackcaps have been playing a five-match T20 series against Australia over the last two weeks. After winning the first two matches in Christchurch and Dunedin – the first by a convincing 53 runs, the second by 4 runs, the action moved to Wellington.

And then the covid dickheads struck, and the country was moved into Level 2 and Auckland Level 3. The upshot of this was that the Wellington match, which we had wanted to see, was played behind closed doors. But the following match was due to be played in Auckland, and the final in Tauranga. The decision was taken to play these all in Wellington, but also without crowds. Boo!

The first two matches played, and the Blackcaps lost both. Clearly, they can only win if they have supporters. But wait…what’s this? On Friday afternoon, with no new community transmission cases for five days, St. Jacinda announced that we would be moving to Level 1 with effect from 6:00am on Sunday morning – the day of the final match! The decider could be played in front of a crowd.

Ticketek swung into action, and tickets were available immediately. Unfortunately, I’d already signed up to a tour at Zealandia for Sunday morning, so I made my way down to the stadium as quickly as possible afterwards, but missed the first nine overs of Australia’s innings, joining when they were at 77/3. Australia were scoring slowly at this point, and never really picked up the pace or managed to get a partnership going. Helped along by Sodhi’s double in the 18^th and Southee’s two in the final over, they set an eminently gettable target of 143.

Guptill and Conway opened for New Zealand, and, unlike on previous occasions, utterly dominated the Australian bowling line-up. They reached 106 before Conway was out for 36. Time for Captain Kane to step up to the crease…and immediately step down again. Out for a golden duck. Poo. Despite that, and the loss of Guptill three overs later for 71, the work had been done (Guptill putting one six on the roof of the stadium), and the total was reached in the 15^th over. Another convincing win for New Zealand, and a series win over Australia, which is always a good thing.

After a short break, the second part of the day’s entertainment was the White Ferns against England. This was the third of a three-match series, and was already a dead rubber, with England 2-0 up in the series. Never mind, could the Ferns salvage some respect with a win?

No.

England are a class apart from the White Ferns, and took them apart again with relative ease. Having set a modest target of 128, England bowled the Ferns out for 96 in 18 overs. They’re really going to have to up their game before next year’s world cup.

There’s more international cricket later in the month when Bangladesh tour New Zealand for three ODIs and three T20 matches. We’ll be along to the Basin Reserve to see one of those, covid permitting. Meanwhile we’re back in Level 1, apart from Auckland, so life is again returning to normal. Tasman and Cook Island bubbles are being talked about again, although our roll-out of the vaccine seems to be progressing at snail’s pace. So far, 75% of border workers have received it, but for the rest of New Zealand it will be “in the second half of the year”, according to Chris Hipkins. Sorry, could you be a bit more vague?

 

That was Quick Pt. 2

Over the past fortnight, the Covid authorities have been dealing with a new outbreak based around Papatoetoe High School in Auckland. The source of the original infection hasn’t been positively identified, and there were increasing numbers of cases being found through testing. But it was nothing to really worry about, as the outbreak was contained, all the affected people were self-isolating, and proper protocols were being followed – the school had been closed, deep-cleaned, sites of interest investigated, and casual contacts traced and tested.

 

At least, that’s what was reported in the news. But, it turns out, people who said they were self-isolating were doing just that: saying they were self-isolating, whilst going about their business as usual. Yep, another case has popped up, related to the high school, and it turns out this individual has been spreading it about the place like nobody’s business. Genius level: Einstein.

Auckland has returned to Level 3 for one week, and the rest of New Zealand will return to Level 2, whilst the consequences of this are traced, tested and isolated.

Once again, events are being cancelled across the country. The international cricket we were hoping to get to this week will still go ahead, but without crowds, so that’s one event crossed off the list already.

Last time this happened, we were able to return to Level 1 quite quickly. Let’s hope this stays true this time. Bill Bailey and Crowded House are both only two weeks away…

That Was Quick

 ...As the actress said to the bishop.

Yes, our latest change to Covid-19 alert level 2 lasted just three days outside Auckland. Auckland, which was at alert level 3, is still at level 2, with a review on Monday 22nd. Seven cases have been identified to date from the latest outbreak, all connected. 

Now we're back to "normal" again, it looks like those events I was worried about last week are back on. Let's just hope there's not another outbreak before then. Bill Bailey is already in New Zealand for his upcoming tour, so chances of this going ahead are good.

In an act of outrageous optimism, I've bought tickets for next year's Cricket World Cup. Six of the games are to be played in Wellington's Basin Reserve, so there's an earlybird bulk deal to be had. 

Here We Go Again

Three new cases of Covid-19 have been discovered in the community, i.e. outside MIQ. They’re the new UK strain. So we’re back to the Covid levels again, and as with last time, there’s a higher level for Auckland (Level 3) than for the rest of the country (Level 2). At the moment this is a 72-hour lockdown, presumably so that they can try and trace the source of transmission and check all other contacts for it. This is different to previous cases where a community case has been found because it is (a) the UK strain, and (b) not linked to MIQ or historic cases.

How does this look to my overseas readers? Are we in a panic over three cases? Last time this happened was in August last year, when the new cases quickly spiralled into New Zealand’s largest cluster of nearly 200 cases. On the other hand, no-one’s died from Covid for ages here, and we’re not reporting daily cases and deaths in the hundreds or thousands.

Again, looking at August 2020 as the most recent comparison, what started out as a 3-day lockdown ended up being 41 days at Level 2, with Auckland spending even longer before they returned to Level 1. So let’s not count our chickens.

What does this mean for us? It’s back to wearing masks on public transport, and hopefully more people will start to re-use the app again – now with new, improved, Bluetooth! Also, the Old Bailey will have to reconfigure their tables for pub quiz and resume table service only. Other events for which we had high hopes are no doubt under review – theatre, international cricket, Bill Bailey and Crowded House are scheduled in the next month. Hopefully we’ll get to at least some of these.

Level One

After five weeks of increased Covid restrictions, we are moving down a level to Level One, outside of Auckland, at midnight on Monday 21^st September. Auckland must remain in Level Two for a further two weeks from Thursday, 23^rd September. Face coverings on public transport, and checking into places using the Covid tracer app or Rippl (my preferred app), remain in force.

So we’re back to where we were (almost – Aucklanders are still feeling the pinch) at the beginning of June. Events will again be open to the public – we’ll try and get to some Wellington rugby matches when we can, and we’ll be able to go to the theatre, restaurants etc in a more normal fashion from tomorrow. Which is just as well, as our next outing is planned for this Thursday, and we’ve got a few more events lining up for October.

Why does Auckland have to wait longer? Well, for one, that’s where the outbreak occurred, and there are still 33 active cases from that cluster. There are also 29 in managed isolation and quarantine in various locations around the country (but mostly in Auckland). Saint Jacinda announced that they were able to draft the order to bring the rest of New Zealand down to Level One in advance, but had not been able to do so for Auckland. Why this is the case doesn’t appear to be explained. We continue with a two-tier system that can only cause problems and confusion for another two and a half weeks at least.

Split Level

Here we go again.

Almost inevitably, I suppose, a case of Covid-19 has been found outside the quarantine facilities. OK, four cases, in one family; origin unknown at the moment. Auckland has been moved to Covid Level 3, and the rest of the country is moving to Covid Level 2. But it’s OK, because the restrictions don’t come in to effect until midday, and the virus is well known for its patience when it comes to implementing plans. Also, the Level 3 restriction is only until Friday. Wait, whut?

This will have international repercussions, no doubt. People have been holding New Zealand up as a shining beacon of how to eliminate and quarantine against further infection. Now that the virus has re-emerged here, there will doubtless be calls saying “if even New Zealand, with all its controls, is seeing the virus re-emerge, what’s the point of us doing anything to try and stop it?” We shall see how this latest outbreak develops. Our Ministry of Health have managed to reach new levels of incompetence in managing the quarantine…let’s see where this one goes.

The day before yesterday, cabinet were discussing the possibility of opening up a "Pacific bubble" with the Cook Islands. this is almost certainly going to put the kibosh on that.

More soon.

Covid-Free Since 8th June

Today’s announcement of the current Covid-19 numbers reached a new milestone today. For the last 17 days there have been no new cases. Today, the final person showing symptoms has officially recovered, so there are no active cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand. Woohoo!

Shortly after 3pm, the prime minister Saint Jacinda acknowledged this, and said that New Zealand would move to Covid-19 alert Level 1 with effect from midnight tonight. There is no requirement to give 48 hours’ notice, as there had been under previous changes to the alert level, as there were no preparations which needed to be put in place to go to Level 1.

What does Level 1 look like? The borders are still effectively closed, with only specific movements of people in and out, and 14-day quarantines remaining in place for people entering the country. The recent arrival of film workers to start the Avatar sequels project are an example of this, and still need to stay in quarantine a further week before they can begin. Otherwise, businesses can open up as normal, and city centre workers are being encouraged to return to offices, in an effort to support those other businesses – hospitality and retail, for example – that rely on office workers being at their desks. People are still encouraged to maintain good hygiene, coughing etiquette, stay home if they feel ill, and record their movements in the event of a further outbreak – the government’s Covid-19 tracer app and Wellington’s Rippl are both still available for use.

We went back to pub quiz last week under level 2 for the first time, but this week we’ll be able to actually order at the bar, and mingle with other teams and our host, Andy.

Over the coming weeks we should hear more about extending our national “bubble”, both across the Tasman to Australia, and into the Pacific, when it is prudent to do so. It will probably be some time before we can return to normal travel to the rest of the world, though. For the time being it looks like we will be holidaying in New Zealand,  and we will of course be doing our bit to support local businesses and tourism.

Level Two

So here we are at Covid-19 Level Two. Restrictions have been lifted, shops, cafés and restaurants opened, and New Zealand travel allowed. Yippee!

On the first day, we headed up to Zealandia for the first time in seven weeks, for a walk. We got there early, and it turned out that this was a good plan, as by the time we were returning the place was beginning to fill up. Certainly the car parks were full! I will be returning there on Saturday in a professional capacity, volunteer guiding in the afternoon.

We then headed into town for me to get…a haircut! Yes, the Eighties look has been lost, and I’m now back to my Shaun The Sheep style. They were only allowing three people into the shop to wait, so the queue had started to form outside. I was fifth, but as there were three hairdressers we got seen fairly quickly.

For lunch we went out to Café Polo. They’re still offering only a limited menu, but at least we could sit down in there, have a beer or wine with lunch, and generally try to get back to normal. There weren’t as many people availing themselves of this as I’d have thought. The Larder don’t appear to be open for business yet – they’re still passing food out onto a table à la Level Three. They were offering a bubble dinner on Thursday and Friday, but these sold out within minutes and we didn’t make the cut. We’ll be back to them when they reopen properly – probably next week. Meanwhile, we had their Vietnamese lunch the other day – pork banh mi and chicken dumpling soup – which was very tasty.

We’ve also had another meal from Loggy B’s (that’s Logan Brown to you) delivered for home assembly. This time we had confit duck, and again it was a restaurant-quality experience. We’ve ordered again for next week.

On Friday morning we went down to Scorch-O-Rama for brunch. Again, oddly quiet. I’d have thought that people would be flocking to these venues again, but either they’re back at work, or staying at home afeart. Maybe they’ll be busier over the weekend.

In Covid-19 news, we’ve had three days on the trot with no new cases, followed by one case today...but this turned out to be someone who had symptoms two months ago, tested negative, was isolated anyway, is now no longer infectious, and now tests positive. Not entirely sure how they get this to be a “new case”, but hey, what do I know?

Next week will see further relaxations, with pubs and bars allowed to reopen. Some are open already if they're serving food, but there are no drinks-only establishments open at the moment. And no, crisps and nuts are not a meal (they checked). The Level 2 restrictions will be reviewed on Monday, 25^th May.

Level Two Is Coming

Saint Jacinda announced on Monday that New Zealand would be going to Covid-19 Level Two at 23:59 on Wednesday, 13^th May. This means that from Thursday, more businesses can open, we can sit in cafés and restaurants again, and people can go back to work and school, with appropriate spacing measures in place. Woohoo!

For us, this means we can go back to volunteering at Zealandia (me), and possibly taking tours (the level of demand for tours is still being worked out – watch this space!), and going back to chorus and orchestra (Nicola). Pub quiz is going to take a little longer – pubs are closed for a further week, so we’ve got at least two more virtual quizzes before we can even contemplate the possibility of actually going to the pub for a, you know, PUB quiz.

Of course, this has only just started, so over the past week we’ve continued taking deliveries from our favourite cafes and restaurants. Whilst we’ve been keen to spread the love, we do keep coming back to those that are our particular favourites, and that provide a service that we’re happy with.

Scorch-O-Rama: We continue to support our local café when we go out for a walk, getting coffee and tea there and doing the crossword by the beach. We’ll get a proper brunch there when they open up again. Total cost: $9.00.  Overall rating: still 8/10.

The Larder: The Larder were offering “Greek Week” last week, as many people had commented that they were planning to be away in Europe/the world/anywhere else but here. Jacob cooked up a selection of Greek treats, so we had a Greek lunch on Friday, consisting of lamb gyros followed by galaktoboureko. Next week is Vietnam, so we’ll be going back for another lunch. Total cost: $41.20 (including $1.20 card charge). Overall rating: 9/10.

Field & Green: The first time we’d ordered from them, but we’ve been there regularly and their beef cheek goulash looked like a tasty option. They delivered at 7:30pm (having promised 7:00pm) but had texted to let us know of the delay, so can’t really fault them for that. Also, a delivery charge of only $5 to Eastern Suburbs is cheaper than everyone else. Whilst it is supposed to be delivered hot, I suspect it had been in the vehicle a while so we needed to reheat. Not a problem, except the lids of the containers turned out not to be microwave-proof! Fortunately I caught this before any damage was done. The beef cheeks were delicious, there was a creamy mash and sauce as well, but I decided we needed to add a side of peas to round out the dish. Still, a very good option, and it comes with pudding included as well – a slice of bakewell tart. The only problem is…it’s really the only option on their menu (they’re also doing a vegetarian goulash, and kedgeree, but that’s more of a brunch thing) so we’ll probably make this a one-off. Total cost $75.00, including $5.00 delivery. Overall rating: 9/10.

Day 42

Day 42 of lockdown passed in a blur of meaninglessness. The weather has improved from the storms of the beginning of the week, although it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of the days.

The day started with what is now the normal Wednesday morning activity of tuning in to Lenny Beige (broadcast on Facebook on Tuesday evening in the UK) with my coffee and toast. This week’s edition was slightly different from previous weeks’…it included a large segment of the show in a pre-recorded chat between Lenny and impressionist Lewis MacLeod. TBH I prefer the “standard” Lenny Beige show where he includes songs, chat, shout-outs, facts from Max Factor, and the like. It was noticeable that the production quality of the broadcast has been seriously upped, though, which is good. This Friday’s show is the London Show, with songs about, or made in, London.

The Covid news was that there were two new cases, breaking the previous two days’ run of no new cases. However, it is looking increasingly likely that the announcement next Monday will be for a return to Level Two by Wednesday 13^th May.

The sharp-eyed among you may notice that we're reporting negative numbers of new cases on some days. This happens when suspected cases, included in the new daily total, are subsequently reclassified as not Covid-19 related. These are deducted from the current day's total and, on some days, outnumber the new cases.

We continue to support our local businesses, heading down to Scorch-o-rama for coffee (weather permitting) as part of our daily routine. We’ve also ordered out to Gorilla Burger, so were able to have burger and fries immediately before our Tuesday Night Quiz.

Gorilla Burger: have only just opened up in Miramar, on the site vacated by La Boca Loca. I had the OG Single with fries, while Nicola opted for the Congo – halloumi and mushroom. It’s probable that under Level Three they’re not operating under optimum conditions, but I suspect that it had been cooked and ready for some time before my chosen pick-up time specified on their web ordering system, as it was all a bit cool by the time we ate them. Nevertheless, it was a tasty burger, and we’ll definitely be back for more. It’s nice to have a decent burger place in Miramar. Total cost: $39.00 (no delivery charge as I picked up). Overall score: 8/10.

Logan Brown: Logan Brown are offering Logan Brown At Yours, which, rather than delivering a ready-cooked meal, is more like a Woop deal – they provide you with prepared ingredients and sauces (rather than just the raw ingredients like My Food Bag), and you simply have to do the final cook and assembly. We ordered the venison noisettes with pumpkin risotto cake. Delivery was specified as a vague “between 12 and 5pm”, but we must have been near the top of the list as we received it at 12:45. I followed the cooking instructions on the Logan Brown website, and served it with a bottle of Fromm 2014 pinot noir – I felt it deserved something a bit special! This is by far the best restaurant meal we’ve had on our forays into the Wellington hospo scene’s Level Three service. We’ll be back next week. Total cost: $60.00 including $10.00 delivery. Overall score: 10/10.

Start here...

Finish here!

Level Three

The initial four-week period of COVID-19 Level Four was extended by five days last Monday, as Jacinda Ardern wanted to maintain the lockdown past ANZAC Day to ensure people weren’t tempted to use the relaxation of the rules to go on holiday over the long weekend.

Today is the first day of Level Three. In practical terms, not much has changed. The main thing is that food establishments are allowed to open for contactless takeaways – either drive-by, pick-up or delivered – so today we had our first lunch “out”, at The Larder, who provided us with a beefburger and fries (me) and risotto (Nicola). I drove down the hill, even though it’s less than 10 minutes’ walk away, to ensure that we could get back home pronto and eat it whilst it’s still fresh. Who’d have thought that such a small thing would be considered a great leap forward, even two months ago? Just as a reminder, two months ago was the end of February, and we’d just returned from Costa Rica; other events from around this time included going to the dentist, taking tours from cruise ships (including the now notorious Ruby Princess!) and ZBD Tours, pub quiz and going out to see Tom Skelton. Happy days!

We are due to stay in Level Three for two weeks initially, after which there will be a further review. Hopefully they will then decide to take us down to Level Two, which allows shops and restaurants to open, with appropriate spatial distancing rules. This also includes Zealandia, so I’ll be able to go back and pick up some tour work. A large proportion of the volunteer guides fall into the “vulnerable” category, as many of them do guiding in their retirement, and are therefore over the age threshold. So us “younger” types may be called upon to fill the demand – if demand there is, of course. We’re not clear on how much there will be for paid tours yet, as it will, at least initially, be Wellingtonians who’ll be our main customer base. As the rules get relaxed further, to Level One, and hopefully eventually Level Nought, other New Zealanders will be able to holiday in Wellington and hopefully will come to see us.

Here's how that all-important chart has been tracking:

But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. For the time being, we’re still maintaining our spatial distance, taking walks, doing virtual pub quizzes (both in NZ and UK). We are of course supporting our local hostelries as much as possible – tomorrow we’ve got dinner from Café Polo – and generally waiting for better things.