Today is Thursday August 19^th, 2021. Kia ora.

It is now day 2 of our level 4 lockdown.

Yesterday afternoon I went shopping at our local supermarket.  I was careful to  take all precautions that had been required last year, including some that weren’t: I wore a mask and plastic gloves, I shopped alone, and I was careful not to take any bags into the store. It transpired that I could have done so: many customers brought bags into the store; you just had to pack them yourself. Instead I put everything back in the trolley and wheeled it to the car, where my bags were.  The previous stickers for distancing were missing; the person who served me didn’t wear a mask, and didn’t wipe down the counter with disinfectant between customers. From midnight on Wednesday, masks become compulsory.

I was appalled to see many items missing, or in very short supply, namely sausages, flour, toilet paper, and bread. That is quite annoying. We don’t know how long this lock down will continue, and I’d feel safer if we had a few more items in the kitchen that I like. The type of eggs I like to buy was also missing.

A series of photos were sent of my daughter making Louise Cake at her house in Napier. I would really like a nice piece of Louise Cake! The cafés are all closed here, so no Louise Cake for me, unless I make it myself.

Boy, does this virus move quickly! At 6:30 pm yesterday I learnt that there are three more confirmed cases of Covid 19/delta variant in Auckland, confirmed on the stuff website an hour ago, bringing the total in this cluster to 10. One of them attended an 84-person lecture at AUT.  There is suspicion that the virus may have entered via the Trans-Tasman travel bubble.  It’s certainly here now, and it’s pretty scary.  Several of those infected are younger people, who are therefore more likely to have visited several areas of entertainment or hospitality where there were lots of others. More locations of interest have been published.  Experts are saying that 50-120 people may have been infected thus far.

It’s being reported that one case (a woman in her 60’s), is linked to the border, but at present it’s really hard to get any details about this case. The reporting is confusing. Nevertheless, in 24 hours we’ve gone from one to ten community cases of Covid 19/Delta. That’s scary.

Last night as I went to bed I learnt that a woman Air NZ Hostess had flown from Narita, Japan to Auckland and had tested positive as part of normal flight crew testing. Her case is not part of the current cluster, but takes the number of cases of Covid 19 in Auckland to 11.

It’s now Thursday.  This morning, Dr Ashley Bloomfield appears on television, but there is no news of new cases. We have to wait for the 1 pm press conference with Prime Minister Ardern and himself to learn that there are 11 new community cases, all in Auckland, bringing the total to 21 (22?) Already I’m confused. Actually, on thinking about this, I am not. There are 21 community cases of Covid 19/Delta variant.  The Air NZ Hostess (on the overseas run) who was routinely tested was not a community case. Two people are in hospital in a stable condition: one in their 20’s, the other in their 40’s. No one is in an ICU. This morning’s newspaper publishes details of ICU beds and ventilators available.

More sites of interest have been published.  One of my friends who flew up from Christchurch last weekend asks me anxiously about Auckland attendees. I fully understand her concern, but our friends are all seriously elderly and most are physically impaired, so I very much doubt they’d go to the casino or a fast-food outlet. Nevertheless, we all have networks of family and friends.

Many of the new cases are young people. Is this a blessing or a curse? More sites of interest will be notified during the day.

The government think they have found the link to the Delta variant of Covid 19 from New South Wales, that being a passenger that flew from Sydney and went into MIQ.  So perhaps MIQ has been breached. There is still no apparent connection to Covid Joe (case 1). There is another MIQ drama, this time at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Some folk who were due to leave have tested positive for Covid 19 on day 12 of their stay, so they’ve been transferred to the Jet Park facility, and no one else is allowed to leave.

It’s positive that there’s lots of testing going on, that all cases detected so far have been in Auckland, and that wastewater testing for the rest of the country (barring Thames and Coromandel) has been negative for Covid 19. Wastewater testing in Auckland thus far correlates with known cases of Covid 19. There are more pop-up testing centres in Auckland. Vaccination is continuing, and will be opened up to 12 – 16-year-olds. If you are booked, and have a young person in your bubble, you can take them along when you get vaccinated.

In Australia, Delta covid is still at large. Victoria had 57 new cases, the ACT 16 cases; Queensland none, again; and NSW, 681.

I listened to Dr John Campbell’s update again today.  He has found it strange that in the US, a Mr Greg Abbott has tested positive for Covid 19, was vaccinated in December last year, and was evidently seen in public not wearing a mask. Ah ha! No one does irony quite like the British. Evidently Abbott was at  a Republican fundraiser event the night before, an event which was mask less and crowded. Evidently he’s receiving Regeneron, the “magic” drug Trump and Giuliani received, apparently made from foetal cells. Yet he signed a drastic law into effect, which is effect bans most pregnancy terminations. He has also banned mask wearing, but apparently schools in Texas are making mask-wearing part of the dress code, to get around this.

In other news, the evacuation from Kabul in Afghanistan continues to dominate. There is a great deal of recrimination, but today perhaps more acknowledgment that the US really needed to get out, and there was no good way to do so. Having said that, it seems a great shame that there wasn’t a better escape plan for the hundreds of Afghani and other nationals who are desperate to leave. What about the rest of Afghanistan, apart from Kabul?  It’s a mountainous country, and hardly well-supplied with good roads.  New Zealand has sent a Hercules military aircraft to assist with evacuations from Bamiyan province.

On The Rachel Maddow Show, Rachel told a very harrowing story about an Afghani translator who was assisted by a US Marine (in the US) to get out of Kabul, together with his wife and four young children. Their journey is by no means over yet, but, last seen, they were on a plane heading out of Kabul. They had lift off – “wheels up”. This was by no means an easy exit. But Zak got out alive, together with his family.

In other news again, the price of oil has dropped from $70 (US) to $64 a barrel.   I’m told this is a good thing.

Today it has been fine, and not too windy. This afternoon we went for a walk, but we didn’t go shopping. Some people wear masks, but not all, although supermarkets are not permitting shoppers not wearing masks. There are lovely photos of my daughter and her house mates at Hohepa, having home-cooked fish and chips with salad by candlelight.

During the day, there hasn’t been much news apart from the 11 new cases of Covid 19 in Auckland. I go to bed (after watching the last episode of The White Lotus, and the first episode of War and Peace (the 2016 BBC series) – like Downton Abbey, but with better costumes. Actually, it’s a much better series, in my view. As I go to bed, I check the local news: in Auckland, students from two large secondary schools have tested positive for Covid 19: one from Northcote College, on Auckland’s North Shore, and one from Lynfield College.

No doubt we’ll hear more tomorrow (which is only Friday, by the way); secondary schools are large places with multiple contacts, as students move from one area to another. The list of places visited will continue to increase. The student at Northcote College was infectious for two days while attending school. Poor Auckland!  This virus must have been circulating out there a week ago, as people were flying to Wellington for our party.  I do hope that no one who was there contracts Covid 19.  No doubt there will be more news tomorrow.  As the PM said today, things are probably going to get worse before they get better. Community cases of Covid 19 are still confined to Auckland.

Down in the South Island, they must think all this anxiety is somewhat ridiculous. The government is going to announce tomorrow next steps with regard to lock downs and Covid 19 levels. I hope we can do stuff and go places again, but I feel very selfish in doing so. I do feel very sorry for the people who are unwell in Auckland, to say nothing of their worried families and friends.

More news tomorrow. Ngā mihi.

Today is Wednesday August 18^th, 2021. Kia ora.

Today is day one of our level 4 lockdown. It is very quiet, apart from aeroplanes flying overhead. The wind must be a Southerly, although the weather really doesn’t matter much: we can’t go anywhere. Travelers have 48 hours to return home, so my cousins won’t go to the Chateau as planned, right now. They are to fly south this evening. We aren’t allowed to go to the airport to see them off. Public transport here has reverted to weekend half-hourly services, although I doubt that anyone’d want to catch a bus or train unless they really had no other option.

Overseas press media such as the UK’s Guardian report with some amazement that New Zealand has gone into lockdown after just one community case being reported. While the Government certainly acted swiftly, this morning (at 5:30 am, I think) it was reported that Covid Joe (as I’ll call him) has the Delta variant of Covid 19 (as expected), and there are four new cases, all connected to him. A very concerning factor is that one of them is a nurse at Auckland Hospital, who had received both vaccination jabs. There is still no knowing where this person contracted Covid 19, and no apparent link to MIQ or the border.  But he certainly got around: places he visited in the Coromandel and Auckland and places en route have been published. There is to be another news conference at 1 pm. Meantime, the streets are empty, apart from testing centres, where there’s lots of testing going on.

Yesterday I omitted to mention that the Honourable Grant Robertson, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, has said that the wage subsidy will be re-introduced. Bless him. I’m sure this lockdown will hit some very hard, but I don’t sense any great resistance to it. The morning paper was largely supportive. There is some suggestion that there should be a mask mandate, but lockdowns never go far enough for some people.

I think that Prime Minister Ardern is quite wonderful. We watched a video of her being interviewed on Radio NZ this morning, and she certainly communicates well. Among other things, she said that the vaccine programme might be able to restart before the 48 hours are up, if suitable protocols are in place.  It seems that vaccines don’t protect you against the Delta variant of Covid 19, but we’d all feel safer to be fully vaccinated, nonetheless. There is lots of talk of booster shots as well. This seems pretty mean when some countries are having difficulty getting vaccinated at all.

At around 11 am this morning I received various emails from agencies such as the Khandallah Community Centre (no surprise, there, all activities are off until clearance is received); hymn singing had already been cancelled; and another rather confusing message from Access Community Health. I don’t know quite what to make of that. I was expecting my Home Help on Friday, but it’s no big deal if he doesn’t come. I also received an email newsletter from my church. Bless them, they’re very caring.  My dance group will revert to zoom sessions.

This time is different, I think, from previous scares.  People seem resigned to this lockdown: any frustration is perhaps not openly expressed. We all want to be safe, and we want our families and networks to be safe. Yes, we can do this.

Overseas, harrowing scenes continue as people endeavour to get out of Afghanistan. In the US there’s a feeling that President Biden has stuffed up here, and, by the way, he’s no good on foreign policy. I still support him, I thought he spoke well, justifying the troop withdrawal; it seems the previous administration made various unwholesome deals with the Taliban; no doubt it’s a really complicated situation. It’s really sad to see what’s happening there, but the US should never have invaded in the first place. I believed at the time the US was wrong – the shock and horror many of us felt about the so-called “War on Terror”, and the Bush statement that you’re either with us (the US), or you’re with the terrorists was tragic indeed. One politician (Democrat Barbara Lee) voted against invading Afghanistan, warning the US not to become the evil it feared.

In Haiti, they’ve had three tragedies: the assassination of the President (whatever you thought of him, it’s still a tragedy for someone to be killed like this; his wife was shot too); the big earthquake (7.2), in which several people were killed, and now Tropical Storm Grace is dousing them with very heavy rain. Poor Haiti, they don’t deserve such (un)natural disasters.

In the US, where the Delta variant of Covid 19 is rampant, they’re still pretty crazy about taking any precautions, especially Republican Governors Greg Abbott and Ron de Santis of Texas and Florida, respectively, although some republican governors have changed their right-wing devil-may-care attitude, given that so many of their constituents are seriously ill. Well, according to the Guardian, Governor Greg Abbott has tested positive for Covid 19.  That has to be kind of ironic. Evidently he’s been fully vaccinated. Who would have thought? Evidently he chose to be vaccinated. No one would wish anyone to be ill, but hey, this is interesting news. By the way, the Federal government has been helping Texas out by supplying ventilators. Because of the surge of Covid 19 patients, all elective surgery has been put on hold. The Federal Government is also supplying mortuary trucks. So what if you have a stroke or a heart attack, a car accident, or a fall?  Good luck to you, then, the hospital probably won’t have a bed for you, and by the way, your risk of contracting Covid (if you get treated) just increased a great deal.

In Australia, Victoria has recorded 24 new cases of the coronavirus, but they aren’t saying yet what the Sydney total is today. Sometimes this is reported at 11 am.  They think a child contracted Covid 19 at an MIQ facility. I guess that’s always a risk. Victoria has a curfew in place, and late night public transport at weekends has been cancelled. The Shadow Finance Minister’s 14 year old daughter has been diagnosed with Covid 19. Later it was reported that NSW has 633 new cases. No wonder the Sydney Morning Herald wasn’t keen to report that fact.

There’s a story in the NZ Herald about four new covid cases. I can’t figure out if they’re the ones we already know about, or four new cases. One of them is a teacher at a West Auckland school. Everyone gets about, of course. Even if you live a relatively boring life, you still have many contacts.

At 1 pm today there was a press conference featuring Prime Minister Ardern and Dr Ashley Bloomfield, followed by the Police Commissioner, Andrew Coster.

There is quite a lot of news. The original covid 19/Delta variant case is linked to the NSW Delta variant outbreak.  In addition to the four new cases advised this morning, there are a further two, bringing the total in this cluster to seven (thus far). Of these, the four were flatmates, and the two new ones friends of the flatmates. Two key sites of interest have emerged: the Church of Christ, in Freeman’s Bay (Sunday’s 10 am service), and the Casino at Sky City. One woman who tested positive is a teacher at Avondale College. Somebody also went to a nightclub. Basically, folk went everywhere. In Coromandel, there was a lot of activity over the weekend, and not a lot of Covid QR code scanning.  Dr Bloomfield fears we may be under lockdown for two weeks. Jacinda Ardern stresses that the government has been planning for such an event, and both she and Dr Bloomfield acknowledge that it’s different this time around from March/April 2020. Yes, it’s much colder, too!

There are more changes. Vaccinations can start again from 8 am tomorrow (Thursday, August 19); they can start in some places this afternoon. The main thing is to ensure distancing is provided for. If anyone’s booking needs to be changed, they’ll get a text advising that, otherwise they should just turn up as booked. From now on, vaccination booking is open to those aged 40 and over.

There is to be a mask mandate from midnight tonight, for anyone over 12. People are required to wear them at places still allowed to be open, namely supermarkets and dairies, petrol stations and pharmacies. While there’s been a mask mandate (not always observed) on public transport, you’re now required to wear one at bus stops and when using a taxi. The strike planned for Thursday (tomorrow) by nurses and midwives has been called off. All rugby playing for the weekend has been called off. Many planned public events have been called off. Yet again, I’m so relieved we had our party last Saturday evening, and the only uncertainty was when and whether Covid 19 (Delta variant) would come to New Zealand. Thankfully, I didn’t have to cancel (or try to recoup costs for) cake or flowers, or air fares, and my new dress wasn’t wasted.

The Governor of the Reserve Bank has kept the Official Cash rate at 0.25%. That’s probably a good thing overall, although it still means some people can borrow very large amounts of money at very low interest rates, and hence pay huge amounts for houses.

It was interesting to note that the police broke up a few protests: there were 20 (!) protesters in Nelson. They also sent home back lots of Auckland would-be holiday makers. Really! What a strange place it is here in Aotearoa.  Meanwhile, Covid 19 testing continues.

Once again, I am so thankful to be in New Zealand, where most people are sensible – about everything, especially in Wellington. We are pragmatic, and philosophical. Amongst other songs, we sang Que sera, sera last Saturday night. How very prescient of us.  Be at peace, everyone, and don’t be anxious. Where would you rather be? 

I’ll stop now. No doubt there’ll be more news, but I’ll save it for tomorrow. Ngā mihi.

Today is Tuesday August 17^th 2021. Kia ora katoa.

It has been quite an eventful day, after several eventful days.  This afternoon soon after I returned home, I learnt that a new community case of Covid 19 has been confirmed in Auckland. I don’t know yet whether it’s the Delta version. The Prime Minister is returning to Wellington, and she and Dr Ashley Bloomfield are to hold a press conference at 6 pm.  We wonder just what will happen, having been warned that there may be a sudden, severe lock down if the Delta variant of Covid 19 is diagnosed here. In Australia, the current wave of the Delta variant is running amok, with increasing numbers of cases being diagnosed in New South Wales, and most of Australia’s large cities are noe under lock down. Here, there is apprehension.  Our daughter had her second vaccination jab yesterday. JD and I are due to have our second jabs next week.

But there is other big news today. The weather was wild last night, after being quite calm and mild during the day.  This morning a train derailed on the Waikanae line, just south of Paekakariki. This has resulted in closure of the south-bound lane of SH1, and the Waikanae line trains running only between Wellington and Plimmerton. There was traffic chaos, with some trucks and trailers using the Paekakariki Hill Road (not suitable for long vehicles); surprisingly, we had a smooth run to my Tai Chi class at Mana, and I actually got there early. There were just six of us there – far fewer than usual.

But the weather’s not the only big news. The wonderful couple who hold it all together are leaving soon to return to the South Island, and although the other tutors aim to continue, the brand Tranquil Dragon is to cease here, and the Tuesday classes will stop, in favour of Thursdays only. So that’s really a double whammy. While I’ll miss Geoff and Pat, of course they have every right to do what’s right for them. They’ve been more than generous with their time and teaching, sharing their love for Tai Chi and inspiring us all.  But Thursday classes aren’t good for me. I love to sing on Thursday mornings.  I suppose I’ll have to find another Tai Chi class. Since I was so ill, almost ten years ago, learning and practicing Tai Chi has been a very important activity, and a nice segue from my earlier practice of yoga. I’ve met some very good friends there, and everyone has been very kind and accepting. It’s also very low cost.

It’s been a busy few days. My daughter and a carer were here for the weekend. We had a party on Saturday evening, which was a huge success. It’s been quite a busy time, though! I was very apprehensive beforehand, but I guess that’s all part of the fun. It’s been lovely to see so many friends, and our children have all been wonderful, including the ones overseas, who sent messages via video. Although I had reservations about this, I now think it was the right thing to do.  No one could come from Australia, sadly, but we were able to go ahead, whatever the future holds.

The 6 pm press conference announced, unsurprisingly, that New Zealand is to go into a level 4 lockdown at midnight tonight for the next three days, and Auckland and Coromandel  are to be at level 4 for one week. The person diagnosed with Covid 19 is an older male (58), from Devonport, a suburb of Auckland, who went to Coromandel over the weekend. It should be known tomorrow whether her has the Delta variant of Covid 19, but he probably has. At this stage there it’s not known how he caught the virus. He had visited his GP, having symptoms of coronavirus. His wife has tested negative, although her test will be repeated. Some of the spots he visited have been published.

Everyone is to stay home, except for supermarket workers; the schools will be closed. You can go to a supermarket, and shop individually (one at a time); everyone should wear a mask outdoors. I didn’t go shopping today, mainly because of the terrible weather; I rather wish I had, now.  Never mind, it’s only for three days (we hope). We hope a rash of cases won’t pop up like they are in New South Wales. It’s partly because the Delta variant of Covid 19 is wreaking such havoc in Australia, (and the US), that the Prime Minister has imposed such a drastic, immediate lock down. I’m relieved that she’s taking it seriously. In the main, Kiwis are obedient, sensible people who comply with the rules. There’s no need for panic buying, she says.

Thursday’s nurses’ strike is off (or perhaps, it’s on?); vaccinations have been paused for 24 hours. Yes, we can do this. Thank the Lord that we had our party last weekend, and that this Covid 19 cases didn’t emerge from our gathering. What’s more, almost all the guests are safely home. The two that aren’t were going to visit the Tongariro Chateau; perhaps they’ll go there later. They’re probably more able than other guests to manage this situation. Thank goodness we had dinner with them last night.

There’s a sense of resignation; that this had to come, sooner or later; that we’ve been incredibly fortunate up until now. Let’s hope it is “nipped in the bud”, as they say.

There are harrowing pictures of people trying to escape from Afghanistan. President Biden spoke on television about his reasons for continuing the withdrawal of US forces. It transpires that the previous regime made a number of commitments regarding withdrawal of troops. I would have to say I agree with him; the US should never have gone there in the first place (twenty years ago).  The present situation is tremendously sad, and indeed harrowing, but what about all those countries who don’t want Afghani immigrants?  One feels so desperate for the women and girls in particular; but remember, the former president wanted to meet with the Taliban at Camp David, of all places. There’s a photo of Mike Pompeo with a Taliban leader, which I gather has been hastily removed. Some US attitudes to women, while not quite as mediaeval as those of the Taliban, are hardly modern.

I had been quite looking forward to tomorrow’s activities: hymn singing, morning tea, and a movie and lunch at Khandallah Town Hall, after which I was going to shop at the rather nice New World supermarket there. I would see many of my friends. Hymn singing has been cancelled, and I’m sure the movie morning will be too, as will singing on Thursday morning.  That’s sudden, and rather sad.  I was looking forward to going to the movies, too.  There has been a very nice newsletter from Hohepa. They are closing their school and all day activities, and going back into their “bubbles”, bless them. Our daughter has now had both vaccine jabs, so at least she has that level of protection.  I guess there’ll be no church newsletter on Thursday, either. Or takeaways.  Thank goodness for our new coffee machine (and plenty of cake from the party).  I had a cheese scone for morning tea this morning – I enjoyed that, and the cheese rolls we had last night.

We’ll get through this! What’ll we do this time, I wonder?  Ngā mihi.

Today is Friday July 23^rd. Kia ora katoa.

The Trans-Tasman travel bubble has been paused (thankfully). For two months, from 11:59 pm tonight. Here in New Zealand, there are still no community cases of Covid 19. In Australia, the Delta variant of Covid 19 continues to wreak havoc (there were 136 new cases in NSW today, and 14 in Victoria, 158 in total). Having said that, it’s not nearly as severe as in Indonesia, Fiji, or South Korea, but the numbers are bad enough for them, and this surge seems not ready to abate yet. Kiwis in Australia are encouraged to return. There will be special flights for them over the next seven days.

It’s now Saturday, July 24^th. It was very cold here this morning. It’s fine now, but the day started with heavy cloud cover. Apparently Covid 19 has been detected in wastewater in New Plymouth, but this has been explained away – perhaps someone who had tested positive for Covid 19 had later travelled to Taranaki, and was still shedding some of the virus.

In Australia, it’s a different story, with 162 new cases reported today, and 14 in Victoria. It seems the Sydney lockdown “isn’t working”. There are no new cases in Queensland. A National Emergency has been declared in New South Wales. There is increased criticism of the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, amid the slow vaccine roll out, and difficulties in getting financial support. Are the 162 new cases in NSW, or in Australia overall? It’s really hard to tell. Meanwhile, there are large anti-lock down protests in Australia’s largest cities. The police think this is really stupid, and I do too, by the way.

Here in Aotearoa, we are fine, thanks, but rather than being locked down, we’re locked in. I don’t know where you can travel to without quarantining when you get there, and you certainly have to quarantine when you return, assuming you can get a place in MIQ. So, we’ll have our jabs (which is now happening, and it’s free), and sit tight, not going anywhere abroad. No one can really come here, either. Isolation continues. I remind myself that we’re thankful to be here, and thankful that our borders are closed.  Prime Minister Ardern was being ribbed about a plan for reintegrating with the rest of the world; such a plan looks more foolish, now.  We’re sorry for Australians, but where would we rather be? Here, where we can still go to church, cafes and movies, and see our friends and family who are here.

I learnt tis morning of a third death of someone I knew. We had the funeral iin Havelock North of a first cousin of JD’s father, then a local person who was, with his wife, a good friend of mine. Now an acquaintance has died, suddenly, who was a bit younger than me. That makes three.

Yesterday my grandchildren came. It was a beautiful fine day. They did some painting. This time I was better organized, with new paints, some new glitter, and a new plastic cloth.  I thought it went rather well.  My granddaughter did a beautiful painting of a large flower in a vase, and sprinkled glitter in the centre. She wanted to take it home to her mum, but it wasn’t dry, so I held onto it for a couple of days. It was nice to have new tubes of paint that worked. In the morning I went for a walk.

Next week is looking very busy, with term three activities starting up again, a dental check, my first vaccine jab, and several other things. It’s strange how when you book the first appointment the calendar is clear, and then it’s suddenly full, and you’re trying to fit things in. I remember that despite the cold, this tends to be the best time of the year for me, before the spring allergies come on, and continue through what we call summer, before the autumn chills and breathing difficulties begin. These are the good times.

It’s now Friday July 30^th.  There are various issues to be dealt with. Today it’s not so easy to be calm about things. It’s been quite a busy week, with quite bad weather (heavy rain) on Monday and Tuesday. Thankfully the last three days have been fine and sunny.

Tai Chi started again last Tuesday, with a good turnout, despite the price increase and the bad weather. I do find whenever I wear a mask now (when using public transport) my glasses get fogged up – I haven’t found how to stop that happening.

On Wednesday I went to hymn singing, and then had lunch with a friend and watched some of the Olympics on her Sky TV. On Thursday morning my other singing restarted – that was lovely. Some of us had coffee afterwards.

In Australia, NSW continues to be in a bad way from the coronavirus. Yesterday they recorded 239 new cases; today, it was down a bit, to 170 (205 for Australia in total). So they continue to be in a bad way. I had my first vaccination injection on Monday afternoon, in the old Paper Plus store in the Johnsonville Chopping Centre. They seemed to have a very efficient, well-run operation there. I do appreciate their contacting me (several times!) to ensure I knew the vaccination was now available.

In Tokyo, the Olympic Games continues with no spectators; some athletes testing positive for Covid 19; Simone Biles has pulled out; and there have been some surprises. The Opening Ceremony was amazing, despite the lack of crowds.

In the US a House of Representatives Select Committee has begun, first hearing some alarming evidence from police officers (and seeing not previously shown footage of the insurrection).  Several things struck me: I heard several interviews from Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker about their new book, I Alone Can Fix It, about Trump’s final (hopefully) year in office. I was horrified at the fact that he was watching the insurrection on television, taking no responsibility for keeping anyone safe, least of all his Vice President Mike Pence.  I was also aghast to learn that he regarded his biggest failure not as not preventing over 600,000 deaths from Covid 19 in the US, but not firing on Black Lives Matter protesters after the death of George Floyd.  I was also struck by the fact that the Select Committee is indeed bipartisan, in a way that few if any predicted; and that some policemen were terrified for their lives. It occurred to me that no doubt many black men are also terrified for their lives, when shot by police.  There are surely many lessons here.

It’s now Sunday August 1^st. We had a busy day yesterday, visiting some friends for afternoon tea (a beautiful cheesecake), and some other friends for dinner out at their lifestyle block in Te Horo. Thankfully, all went well. It was a beautiful warm day. Everything was delicious, and we got there and back again safely.

This morning I went to church. I was feeling very anxious about various challenges, but thankfully I experienced some peace there.

In Aotearoa, people are getting their Covid 19 vaccines.  Everyone I’ve talked to bar one person is eager to get vaccinated. Everyone is very responsible about getting both jabs, and recording any side-effects. We have waited a while, but thankfully, it’s now happening.

In Australia, Covid 19 (Delta variant) continues through communities; Victoria seems to have their outbreak under control and reducing; Queensland is having a three-day lockdown; in Sydney, they had 239 new cases today. It seems that “lockdown” means something different in different places. Here in NZ, we remain locked in, not locked down. No one can come here – it’s very difficult to get places in MIQ; and where would one go? Assuming you could go somewhere, that looks not too bad for now, it may well be struggling to cope with the virus by the time you get there, assuming you can get a visa. I must post this episode now. Ngā mihi.

Today is Wednesday July 21^st. Kia ora katoa.

Covid 19 – The Sequel (apologies to Stephen Colbert).

What a strange world we live in. Despite my issues and concerns, I am relieved to be free of Covid 19 and the worst effects of climate change – flooding in Westport (after the Christchurch floods), flooding and death in Germany and Belgium, and fires in Siberia (producing toxic smoke), to say nothing of the extremely high temperatures in the North West of the US, including a huge fire in Oregon. I always found summers and winters either extremely hot or very cold when I was there, but this is worse. Although New Zealand has its share of problems, including quite severe allergies, it has, for the most part, a temperate climate. Actually, there’ve been floods and severe rainfall, and bushfires, for years, but little notice has been taken by many people. When I first went to the US again after many years in 2005, the newspaper USA Today was publishing details of climate change and how it was affecting the States.

Here we can have intense storms, and fires, but generally, nobody dies. Many lose their homes, however. Many are under-insured. How much is ever enough? How much money should one spend (waste) on insurance?

On the home front, there are still no community cases of Covid 19, although a couple of ships have docked here with numbers of crewmen infected, and some seriously ill.  Lest we think we live in some kind of paradise, free from the coronavirus, there was a news conference today fronted by the Hon. Chris Hopkins and Dr Ashley Bloomfield, where Dr Bloomfield warned that the pandemic is not over yet. Cases are rising overseas, while they remain restricted to overseas visitors at present, who are required to enter MIQ.

Yesterday I registered for myself and JD to get the coronavirus vaccine. This was only a registration of interest; I only found out about it because I rang the medical centre about another matter. I duly registered us both, after finding our NHI numbers (that took some doing!), and justifying why we considered ourselves to be in Group 3.  Evidently a new shipment of the Pfizer vaccine arrived a couple of days early, so that’s good news. There is such scepticism, even here, about the Pfizer vaccine; yet surely most of us have the annual flu vaccine?  There is a big worry about children having RSV, a respiratory condition, that makes some very ill, and causes many trips to hospital emergency departments, and some stays in hospital.  So you should stay home if you have cold symptoms -a cough or a runny nose. Yet there are complaints about children having reduced immunity as a result of the Covid 19 lockdown. Really, you can’t have it both ways. I still think we are fortunate to have been so well protected from Covid 19 here. Children do get sick – that’s par for the course, but hopefully they don’t get the dreadful diseases that were so often fatal before the advent on vaccines in the 1950’s.

Overseas, Australia is still “in the grip” of another Covid 19 wave, with South Australia now going into lockdown. What of the Trans-Tasman travel bubble? Personally I think everyone who was going to take advantage of it should have been vaccinated, before opening and using the travel bubble.

Countries such as Indonesia and Myanmar are in a bad way; the Tokyo Olympics is on the verge of being cancelled (it was supposed to go ahead in 2020, and was deferred); in the UK, despite rising cases, Freedom Day has gone ahead, and all restrictions (I think) have been lifted. There have been photos of crowded scenes at nightclubs, and talk of queues for their midnight opening. Meanwhile, thousands of people have been pinged by their mobile phones telling them they need to self-isolate for 14 days. There’s a great deal of scepticism about these notifications, which is hardly surprising.

In the US, one of Nancy Pelosi’s aides has diagnosed positive, as have some staff at the White House (who have all been vaccinated). I do hope President Biden doesn’t get it!  The Delta variant of Covid 19 is continuing to spread at an alarming rate. There is huge scepticism about vaccines, while some of those vaccinated wonder if they should have a booster shot. Hannity was recorded as saying people should take the virus seriously, in a change of tone for Fox hosts.  It does seem true that while those who have been vaccinated can still contract Covid 19, generally speaking they aren’t as ill, and they don’t die from the disease, although they may infect others. There are still huge benefits to being vaccinated, even if it’s not 100% effective (actually, most vaccines aren’t 100% effective).

One podcast I listened to argued the theory of natural selection here, which I thought was very intelligent. The brainy, rational, well-educated people are mostly vaccinated, and likely to survive. Those who don’t get vaccinated, are probably more likely to get ill, and some may die; by the same token, they won’t be able to vote if they’ve died, or attend rallies.  Surely they see some problems with their blind faith in the former president, and the now neutered GOP?  Joy Reid made the very good point that in true religion, your Saviour died for you; in a cult, you’re expected to die for the Leader.

In other (I was going to say Royal) news, Harry has promised to write a memoir, which is to be “wholly truthful”.  Oh, the irony! So he was telling lies before? The interview with Oprah Winfrey had so many obvious lies, that, shocking as it was at first, it has been harder and harder to take it seriously. And this is from people who want privacy. How much more (if anything) do we need or want to know about Harry?  And what happened to H and M’s “proper” maternity leave? Meghan certainly didn’t seem very maternal with her firstborn; she doesn’t seem so with her daughter, either, whom we have yet to see.  Actually, the US doesn’t have much, if anything, in the way of parental leave, so perhaps they’re being very Californian now.

In other news from the US, Tom Barrack, a close friend of Trump and chair of Trump’s Inauguration Committee, has been arrested and accused of acting as a foreign agent for the UAE.  Really, I am reminded of something Seth Myers said, that the former President (and many of his cronies) regarded the Seven Deadly Sins as a “to do” list. In fact, the former one-term president boasted that he was impeached twice, “and I got worse”.  One wonders again, how the US can have so many wonderful people, and so many “deplorables”. There, I’ve said it.

That brings me to the other huge scandal, that of the phone-hacking software, the Pegasus project. Both the UK’s Guardian and the US’s Washington Post have exposes about this, and the Guardian has a series of podcasts (In Focus was mainly presented by Anushka Astana, and we do miss her – one of the few lovely female voices on podcasts).  It is a strange phenomenon that men’s voices (not all, by any means), that I have listened to, generally sound better on podcasts than women’s’ voices do.  That is a strange thing.

Coming back to the phone hacking software. It was developed in Israel, and is touted as enabling states to track terrorist threats. It seems rather to have been used to track anyone potentially seen as a threat. Even President Macron of France was on a list of those hacked. It’s pretty scary that people don’t know if their phone has been penetrated: you can be as secure and risk-averse as you like, and may not be aware that your calls and texts are being listened to, and perhaps you’re being recorded. This is terrifying for anyone who’s critical of their government, say, or who has made enemies. It seems that this software is being used to spy on many people. I always thought that you had to be careful what you said on the phone, but this is next-level surveillance. And who would keep tabs on Emanuel Macron?

It’s now Thursday July 22^nd.  Today I bought some new paints for my grandchildren at Gordon Harris’s sale. Australia’s coronavirus figures are still rising. In China, severe flooding has killed several people, including some poor people trapped in a subway train. This afternoon here in Wellington it rained very heavily for a while, creating big puddles. The heavy rain seems to defy drainage. In New York, there is polluting smoke from the fires in Oregon and California. On the animal television channel they’re now advocating vaccines.

But the big news of the day is that JD and I got text messages inviting us to make appointments to have our vaccine jabs, both injections. I am to have the first one next Monday!  Things are happening, at last; meanwhile, there is talk of shelving the Trans-Tasman travel bubble indefinitely; and it’s near impossible to get into MIQ. Welcome to Aotearoa, not just yet. Ngā mihi.

Today is Thursday July 15^th. Kia ora katoa.

It has been another busy day. Yesterday I had my hair cut and coloured, meaning that I needed to be out at Mana by midday. JD had an appointment, so I had to make my own way there. It was a heavy frost in the morning, so the trains weren’t running for a time, but they were catching up by the time I needed to catch one. I caught a train to Mana, and just missed one coming back. Never mind, I didn’t have to wait long for the next one.

Back in Wellington, I was able to change the puffer jacket I had bought in a sale in Napier. I really wanted a different colour, and they had plenty in Wellington, so the swap was simple. Then I caught a bus home.

Thursday was cold and almost raining. I had my grandchildren over for a time. They did some painting, and I played Monopoly with my granddaughter. She did rather well!  They had both brought soccer balls, which I think they wanted to play with, but it was too cold outside for me to take them to the park.

Today (Friday) is not so cold, but very wet. My cleaner comes, and he’s very obliging.

Overseas, the Delta variant of Covid 18 continues to work its way around people, even vaccinated ones. In Australia, cases continue to rise daily in New South Wales (97 today), and now Victoria has entered its fifth Covid lockdown, with five cases reported today. The Premier of NSW, Gladys something unpronounceable, has been ridiculed by the Treasurer for her actions. Meanwhile, although you’re supposed not to leave your home unless it’s essential to do so, apparently all the shops are open and people are still shopping, according to an Australian doctor who reported on Dr John Campbell’s daily video update. Some of the purchases are certainly not essential. The Australians have mandated huge fines for some things, but seem prepared to overlook other breaches of Covid 19 protocol. Does big business have the main say here?

It’s evident that Covid 19 hasn’t done with us yet. The situation in the US is worsening in some states – Missouri, at the moment (and others), and non-vaccinated people are getting sicker, and dying in some cases. Younger people are getting sick, too.  In the US vaccines are available, but there is a great deal of vaccine hesitancy, with many (mainly in the South) refusing to get vaccinated. Fox News’s Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham are leading the charge, advising people they’re free not to be vaccinated (and not advising them that they may well die).  I recently listened to another heated abortion discussion, centred around some Catholic bishops in the US wanting to deny Communion to President Joe Biden. Of course, executing prisoners is all right, for some Catholics, namely Bill Barr, even though one of the Ten Commandments says “Thou shalt not kill”.  The American Right seems truly crazy to me, but they have a great deal of support. How can an unborn (potential) life be so precious, and a born one “free” to be shot, free to die of coronavirus, or simply free to live in great poverty, without adequate healthcare? Where’s the support system for all people?

The British Guardian newspaper has now come out with a leaked document from the Kremlin which claims that Putin did indeed support Trump winning the 2016 presidential election, and did a number of things to make this more likely to happen; it also claims that the Russians have “kompromat” on Trump from his earlier trips to Russia.  This is hardly surprising to anyone; it’s what was suspected even before he “won” that election, but the US papers and podcasts have been totally silent on this, to me, really big news. They’re far more disgusted by revelations in Phil Rucker and Carol Leonnig’s latest book, I Alone can fix It.  This, too, is shocking but not surprising. The revelations are interesting. The US came even closer than we had thought to completely losing what remains of “American democracy”.  Yet it seems to me that the latest revelations leaked from the Kremlin, like the Christopher Steele report (“the dossier”), are just as alarming too. I look forward to hearing more on this. I hope that I do.

In the UK, it seems they are still forging ahead with the proposed “Freedom Day” on July 19 (not far away now), despite increasing numbers of people infected with the Delta variant of Covid 19. Hospitalisations are up, thus deferring supposedly non-urgent surgery and treatment. What about urgent treatment? I guess everyone just has to take their chances.

In Europe, especially in Germany and parts of Belgium, there have been terrible floods, causing loss of life and great destruction. Looking at the videos it seems as though towns were struck by a tsunami, not just flooding. In the US, another heatwave is predicted, bringing with it forest fires. What a strange messed up world we live in, and how fortunate we are to be here in New Zealand, even if many of us are still unvaccinated.

With the advancing strides of Covid 19, especially the infectious Delta variant, it seems that protests are increasing too. One cannot imagine a near-universal  lockdown across the planet like we had in March/April last year happening again, although of course we couldn’t imagine it then, either, and came to look in wonderment at photos of popular spots overseas like St Peter’s Square in Rome, Milan’s beautiful cathedral, and Venice’s St Mark’s Square, all deserted. People have had restrictions “up to here”, and simply cannot abide them any longer. In Australia the Treasurer speaks out against State government who wish to be cautious. But the coronavirus hasn’t finished yet, and many of us are still very cautious. I fear for my loved ones overseas, still. 2020 was The Plague Year, but in 2021, despite the rapid invention of several vaccines, it’s still The Plague Year. Let’s hope we’re not in for The Plague Decade, that this doesn’t become the new normal for us.

We fantasise about our next overseas trip, and wonder if it will ever happen again.  Thankfully, we are here, and safe, if somewhat isolated, for now.

Here in New Zealand there is severe flooding on the West Coast, and in the Marlborough area.

It’s now Sunday evening. July 18^th. The weather has been wild here. It rained heavily yesterday, but, nonetheless, I was determined to go to town. JD had an appointment in the afternoon; he was to drop me off in Johnsonville on the way. Eventually the appointment was postponed, and JD promised to drive me into town himself. It was still raining heavily, nevertheless, I was undaunted, and determined. It still wasn’t very cold, and better weather was forecast for Sunday. Well, silly me! We got down to Middleton Road, which, despite sloping down hill, was like a river. JD had trouble steering the car, and the driving rain made it very hard to see where one was going. I decided that our trip would be to Johnsonville only, but we had trouble driving up Middleton Road; there was an enormous slip, and we retreated up Churton Drive and home again. We really didn’t go anywhere. JD’s two evening appointments were cancelled.

The next day, Sunday, was calmer, with less rain, and still not too cold.  I went to church; the church was unheated, but all right; it wasn’t too cold. Afterwards, JD picked me up. It was sunny and clear for a bit, and then started raining again. It was a typical southerly storm here: a very intense few hours of wind and heavy rain, followed by intermittent almost fine and calm spells, then spells of heavy rain again.  It rained off and on during the afternoon.

We saw how desperate the situation had become on the West Coast and in Marlborough; how damaged houses are by the flooding; and there’s also been some quite severe damage in the Wellington area: the Ohariu stream burst its banks along the Takarau Gorge Road, destroying road works that had been done to strengthen it; the Nada bakery in Tawa was flooded for the second time in six years, and SH2 between Wellington and the Hutt Valley was closed for several hours. All quite dramatic, really, and yet we’re so glad not to have our homes flooded too.

In Australia, the coronavirus continues to spread, with a lockdown in Melbourne now, and the one in Sydney strengthened. We spoke to our son in the UK, and he told us of the virtual impossibility of getting a place in MIQ so that he and his wife could plan to return to New Zealand and see their loved ones here. I joked that his father or I would need to be dying for him to get a place, perhaps; we don’t want that to happen. It was good to talk to him, though.  The university where he teaches is being cautious about Covid 19 precautions, having had several students become infected with the coronavirus. That’s it for now. Today has been quite a busy one. Ngā mihi.

Today is Wednesday July 14^th. Kia ora katoa.

Last weekend we went to Napier for the Hohepa Family Weekend. There was no Family Weekend in The Plague Year, 2020, and we had really missed it. We drove north on Friday, stopping at Otaki for lunch. We stopped again at Woodville, taking time to look at a junk/antique shop, where we bought our daughter a pendant. The trip north was uneventful, but we didn’t get there until 5:30 pm. We checked into our motel, and rang our daughter’s house. There was to be a play at 7 pm, but it turned out our daughter had seen it the night before.

We scrapped our plans to attend the play, and went to visit our daughter instead. We picked up six paintings she had done.  They are extraordinary!  I like them all, but decided my favourite was one done in oils, a block painting. How talented she is! Then we set about finding a place to have dinner. The restaurant at our motel was closed, somewhat inexplicably, for a Friday night; we went to a favourite Italian restaurant, that had moved, only to find it was fully booked (a private function, perhaps?)  Then we went to Portofino, which wasn’t too busy, and ate dinner there. Afterwards we went shopping at the Greenmeadows New World store, a lovely supermarket. It was very cold.

That night, back at the motel, we had trouble getting, and keeping, warm. Thankfully it had a very quiet heat pump. Which kept going continuously. I foolishly closed the door to the bedroom, which meant that I kept out the heat from the heat pump – silly me. I had my puffer jacket on the bed, wore my robe, and had all my woollen scarves to wrap around my head and neck, but I was pretty cold all night and got little, if any, sleep. We were due at Clive at 9 am on Saturday morning, so we got up quite early. My bedroom had a beautiful jacuzzi in it, so this warmed me up.

Saturday was a busy day, but a very pleasant one. We started by learning the Hohepa song, and planting some trees in remembrance of those who have passed. The main events were in the Hall, but the morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea were in the Rose Weavery, which was adorned with some of the beautiful work the folks do. The refreshments were very good and very generous. There was tea and coffee as well as water and fruit juice, and lots of wonderful Hohepa cheese. There were also plenty of places to sit down, both inside and out. It was lovely to catch up with people one hadn’t seen in a long time. There was no rush. For lunch, you could have beautiful bread rolls and barbecued sausages, with fried onions, mustard or tomato sauce. There was no need to pay for any of it.

After lunch, there were more presentations, including some videos, and a plan for moving the few remaining residents who still sleep at the Clive site. It is such a relief that climate change is taken very seriously now, and that Clive is recognised as being a very vulnerable site. There was great emphasis on the Festivals, again reminding us how Matariki and the Blazing Star (midwinter) festivals are linked. There was also repeated emphasis on the principle of Subsidiarity – or Local is Logical; in other words, decisions that affect the locality should be taken by the people who live in the locality. All this is very reassuring.

Lastly there was the Family Association AGM. Two residents were very vocal. It was agreed, since 2020 had been a very strange and disrupted year, that all the current personnel should be rolled over, including JD as Family Association representative on the Hohepa Foundation.

After that we returned to our motel for a brief rest, before getting “floozied up” to go to the Hohepa Ball, at the Napier War Memorial from 7 pm. We got a park across the road. The Ball was a huge success, and very well-attended, judging by the fact that JD had to get extra chairs for us to sit in. Everyone really enjoyed it; everyone was dressed up for this “Red Carpet” occasion. There was a variety of soft drinks on offer; it had been nice not to have to organise tickets beforehand, and pay for them. Everything was free (but a koha was welcome).

The next day (Sunday), we were due for a family breakfast at the house where my daughter lives at 8:30 am. We enjoyed waffles, maple syrup and fruit salad together. After this I went to church in Tennyson Street at 10:30. In this large church there was a handful of elderly folk, and a painting by Cranach on the overhead.

Afterwards, I met JD and we tried to find somewhere open to have lunch. Napier is weird on Sundays: some places are open, others resolutely shut. I had some soup, and then a quick rest before picking up our daughter. We bought new puffer jackets at a sale, and some picture frames from the Warehouse. Our daughter chose a painting she’d like to have in her bedroom – my second favourite one. For some reason we were both very tired that afternoon.

That evening JD and I had dinner at the Central Fire Station Bistro. What a treat! We started with sharing three oysters; then I had schnapper and risotto and leeks, and JD had chicken and mashed potato with collard greens. For dessert, we shared an espresso semifreddo with prunes – just beautiful. It was a delicious meal, aided by the fact that we hadn’t over-eaten.

The next two days were very cold and wet. On Monday JD got his glasses fixed; I bought a newspaper, and checked out the Farmers’ Red Dot sale. They have a good Farmers store in Napier, but it was very warm inside. It was very cold outside, so, although togged up with warm  jacket, scarf and gloves, once inside, one wanted to strip off. I did try on and buy some corduroy trousers there.

Our daughter had had a running nose and cough, so we didn’t take her out for dinner, but took dessert (apple pie and Viennetta ice cream) to her house – a good idea, since it was so very cold outside.

The next day, Tuesday, we checked out of the motel. This was quite a business, since I’d taken rather a lot of clothes (I needed most of them, too – it was really cold). We had asked for extra blankets, and then found there was an extra blanket in the wardrobe – it had been hidden by the clothes.  Leaving was a bit of a mission: there were four flights of stairs (wet) to negotiate, getting the luggage back in the car. We did get away, eventually, and went to the Hohepa shop. Unfortunately they had no marmalade, but I got apricot jam, beetroot chutney, and two lots of Danbo cheese. Despite the weather, the shop was quite busy.

After that we made our way to Havelock North for JD’s cousin’s funeral. We drove around, eventually finding the Catholic Church. It was still raining, and very cold. Despite my wearing a warm woollen jersey, a woollen jacket, and a raincoat, it was freezing inside the church. I wished I had worn thermals as well, although I’d worn them on Saturday and been a little too warm. While we were there, JD was found to have a bloodshot eye. This has just happened – there was no apparent cause.

Afterwards we shared refreshments, then got on our way back to Wellington by 1 pm. We’d wondered about getting the eye checked out in Hawkes Bay, but JD felt no ill effects, and decided to get it checked in Wellington.  After the funeral we were both very tired. We stopped at Macdonald’s in Dannevirke at JD’s request. After a break, and coffee, we got on our way again. Surprisingly, and fortunately, we both felt much better. If you’re going to stop at Macca’s, Dannevirke is definitely the place to go.

When we got back, we went to the Johnsonville Medical Centre, which was having a late night. JD’s GP was the doctor on duty, and he checked JD out. Although the eye looks awful, he seems to be experiencing no ill effects, thankfully.

Back in Wellington, it is still very cold, but it seems a different kind of cold. In Napier, they have cold nights and mornings, but usually beautiful sunny days. Not this time, however – the cold and rain was hard to take, the rain making everything slippery, and even my thick fur-lined gloves didn’t dry out. Back here, it was very cold this morning – about 2 degrees Celsius, and despite heaters being on, there was some condensation this morning. We’ve had a lovely sunny day, however. My electric blanket is turned on. There’s more terrible heat and fires in North America. I think the cold is preferable to the heat, somehow.

Overseas, the Delta strain of Covid 19 is causing difficulty, especially in Australia. In NSW, the Sydney lock down has been extended, and there are now cases in Victoria. In Aotearoa, we are still spared, thankfully. In Wellington, another dear friend has passed away. His passing was not unexpected, but it will be a sad adjustment for his wife and family. We will all miss his cheery smile.

Forgive me for going on and on about the cold! Ngā mihi.

Today is Tuesday July 6^th. Kia ora katoa.

CCCCC – See! Climate change, Cybercrime, Coronavirus.

Today I have to highlight some stories in this morning’s Dom Post. The front page reads: “Runway repairs put lives at risk”. Well, excuse me, but I would think that not doing the repairs would put many more lives at risk, i.e. all the regular passenger and cargo flights that land here everyday. Also, the Wellington Regional Hospital has a helicopter landing pad, so they do have other options. I am truly sorry for some people who were inconvenienced, but Wellington Airport has one runway, and surely they have to seal it sometime. The notice reads: “The runway was shut so asphalt could be relaid between 10 pm and 6 am on Sundays to Thursdays from September 14 2020 until February 2021”. That seems reasonable to me.

Another annoying one reads “June warmest on record for Wellington – and NZ”.  Other stories have talked about June being the hottest month, despite a cold snap. I find this irritating. While daytime temperatures may have risen to break records, this must be cold comfort to those enduing even colder temperatures than we had in Wellington, and electricity outages. It has been (and continues to be) very cold here for the most part, and we’ve had to contend with frosts although we had little snow. The days have been very short around the winter solstice, so whatever warmth there is lasts only a few hours.

I realise that there’s not much news about here these days: homelessness, mental health issues, abuse in state care, sexual assault, domestic violence, bullying, the woes of the National Party, criticism of the Labour Party, and, by the way, when will we get the vaccine?  However there are two good new stories this morning: 150,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been delivered two days ahead of schedule. A million more doses are set to be delivered in the second half of July. The Ministry of Health has been on constant contact with Pfizer. So that’s good news. Group 3 will be invited to make appointments from the end of July. We have not been forgotten. The Wellington City Mission has opened a new transitional housing facility, and that looks really nice. And the Honourable Kiri Allan, is back at work after being ill with cervical cancer. These are things to celebrate.

We spoke with our loved ones in the US this morning. That was a real treat. They all look well. Where they are, no one wears a mask anymore, despite rising cases of (and deaths from) Covid 19.

In Australia, cases of Covid 19 continue to make big news (46 new cases yesterday).  In New South Wales, 640 nurses are self-isolating because they were in contact with someone who turned out to be infected. Two more residents have been diagnosed with Covid 19 in an aged care facility.  Meanwhile their treasurer says that Australia will have to learn to live with the virus, and it will be worthwhile to have open borders again. I think this right-wing nonsense is just that, nonsensical. If you had an outbreak of cholera, surely you’d try to protect your people against becoming infected. After all, who wants to nurse a cholera-infected patient? Or someone with bubonic plague? Covid 19 is almost as unpleasant; in fact, it must be dreadful seeing people struggle to breathe. There’s no guarantee that should you recover, you’ll pop back to normal health again. I think we’re blessed that sick folk don’t have dreadful dangerous emissions, like the bleeding that comes with a disease like Ebola. It seems there are people like Treasurers and some Prime Ministers who should take a turn at nursing severely ill infected patients, and keeping their families away; then see what their views are.

In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson seems to be willing to throw caution to the wind, as any remaining restrictions are due to be lifted on 19 July. From then on, it will be a matter of personal choice whether to wear a mask or not. He’s always been careless, but what about our loved ones who live in the UK? There are multiple warnings, including from the World Health Organisation, against his “Freedom Day”.

In Wellington, in NZ in fact, there are no new community cases; a few in MIQ. So I think we are all going to relax for a bit (until the next big scare).

How do we learn to live with the coronavirus?  It’s very infectious in some people. We don’t know who is most infectious; often people are most infectious before they have any symptoms. We can all be extra careful, wear masks, avoid touching surfaces, be careful what we eat and where, wash our hands frequently (assuming there’s warm water, soap and paper towels or a hand drier. But avoiding crowded spaces is difficult. What about airports? Lounges?  To get out of New Zealand, you have to fly about four hours, and then you’re just in Australia. It’s another 12-15 hours usually to fly to Europe.

It’s now Thursday July 8^th. There are still no community cases of Covid 19 here in Wellington. We’re starting to relax a bit more now!  In Australia, they’re still getting significant numbers: today New South Wales recorded 38 new cases (42 in Australia), and the Sydney lockdown has been extended, as has the travel “pause” between New Zealand and Sydney and Brisbane. So they are still grappling with this outbreak. When will it be NZ’s turn?  Prime Minister Ardern has said that we won’t be throwing caution to the winds, like Boris Johnson. That’s a relief.

Yesterday I went to see another French film, Adieu Les Cons (Bye Bye Morons). This was slapstick humour indeed, and although I enjoyed parts of it, I probably didn’t enjoy it greatly overall. The theatre was wonderfully warm, and I got a free coffee, but my pleasure was spoiled somewhat by the gentleman sitting next to me, who was very coldy.  Hymn singing was lovely, as was singing this morning. We had a shared lunch afterwards – a wonderful spread. JD and I made cucumber sandwiches, and they were very nice. My friends made beautiful cakes:  chocolate cake with whisky and prunes, and a yummy lemon cake. What a treat!

In the US, Rudy Giuliani has had his law licence suspended in Washington DC. The president of Haiti has been assassinated. Evidently he was narrowly voted out of office in a tight election, and refused to go. Everyone wonders what will happen now. In North Korea – who knows how they have been handling the coronavirus, although Kim Jong Un berated his staff for a Covid emergency that was mishandled. Kim has noticeably lost weight; perhaps he’s had Covid 19?

Various countries are struggling to contain the coronavirus. Indonesia and Fiji are in a bad way. We feel very sorry for them, and wonder at those Americans who refuse to be vaccinated, although vaccines are available.

In Peru they’re struggling with the Lambda variant of Covid 19. No one really knows yet how effective the vaccines will be against these new variants, like Delta and Lambda. All vaccines have a degree of failure, but they’re was better than nothing.

In Florida, they no longer expect to find anyone alive from the Surfside apartment block that half-collapsed. The rest of it has been demolished now. I recently listened to a Guardian podcast about the Grenfell tower cladding that proved so disastrous in the fire. There are many buildings with this type of cladding – residents are now stuck, unable to sell their apartments, and often unable to afford the increasing maintenance costs. In China, some buildings collapse – sometimes only a few years old. Surely everyone should have a safe place to live?

So much grief and tragedy. It puts one’s own troubles in a different perspective. We are so fortunate to live in a democratic country with a good government. While it has many challenges, it has shown that it cares about human life and well-being. Ngā mihi.

Today is Saturday July 3rd. Kia ora katoa.

I haven’t written for a few days now. In New Zealand we anxiously await the daily news summary at 1 pm to find out if there are any new Covid 19 cases in the community; again there haven’t been, for the last few days, and very few in MIQ. I think that the Ministry of Health have gone back to reporting on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule.  Numbers of Covid 19 cases are hard to find on news websites again. It all feels very strange, as numbers continue to rise in Australia and in many places overseas. The Delta variant of Covid 19 has now reached many countries (98 last reported). It poses a big threat to unvaccinated populations. It’s so frustrating that the US now has more vaccine than it needs, but many people won’t have it. Other countries (like NZ and Australia) are increasingly desperate for a vaccine.  In Australia, Covid 19 has now been diagnosed in care homes in NSW. Many of the staff there are still unvaccinated.

The biggest concern here is getting the vaccine.  Those of us who have not been vaccinated (which seems like most people) are restive. Group 3 people had a text the other day saying we’d soon be advised when to book an appointment; in the meantime, don’t contact our local medical centre. I guess we still feel nervous and apprehensive. Is supply a competition between us and Australia?

In Los Angeles, people are advised to wear face masks, even if they have been vaccinated. Australia is still having a really hard time with the coronavirus, with today’s report of 35 new cases diagnosed in New South Wales. This would be the Delta variant of Covid 19, as it wends its woeful way through countries: it had a heigh day in India and Nepal, then in ither Asian countries; is quite firmly established in the UK, is making a toehold in the US, and is in Australia. But not New Zealand. Yet.  

It’s now Sunday July 4^th. In the US most regular podcasts are taking time off, presumably for the Independence Day July 4 holiday. There isn’t a lot to listen to, of my usually regular offerings.

In Australia, cases of Covid 19 (Delta variant) continue to rise – today’s statistics show there were 76 new cases diagnosed yesterday, including three people at an aged-care facility. Several cities are under some sort of lock down, and state borders are closed. Yet the PM, Scott Morrison, has halved the number of arrivals, and suggested incomers quarantine at home! New Zealand tried that, early on, after closing its borders, and – surprise – it didn’t work, so they introduced a system of quarantine (MIQ) in selected hotels in Auckland, Rotorua, Wellington and Christchurch. The system has been refined after several attempts to abscond, and more regular testing (on day 3 and day 12, I think) has been put in place, with people testing positive for Covid 19 being moved to the Jet Park facility until they are well and receive a negative Covid 19 test. You also have to have a voucher for a place in MIQ when you book your flight here. If you’re leaving certain countries, you have to have a negative Covid 19 test three days before you leave. The NZ army have been brought in to police this system. Most MIQ workers have been vaccinated. By and large, this system works very well, protecting regular New Zealanders, and allowing others to return or to visit without fear of Covid 19.

Scott Morrison also talks about a four-phase system to re-integrate Australia with the world economy. Yeah, right on, think many of us. Every country’s reaction to Covid seems to indicate its priorities! the irony is, the less infections you have, the more healthy your business will be, and customers will have much more confidence about spending money in shops and hospitality. In other words, it makes good sense to prioritise human life. Then indeed you will have a livelihood.

Meanwhile, we get on with our lives here. We are almost “back to normal”, with care applied. It has been very cold indeed. Last Tuesday was freezing, with huge waves on Wellington’s South Coast (there are times when one is so pleased not to live by the seaside); since then we have had a couple of frosts (which are usually followed by sunny days); this morning (Sunday) it was very cold indeed; not frosty, but soon the sun “came out” and warmed everything up.

I went to church this morning. It was a Café Service, the first one I’d been to, although they regularly have them in July, on the grounds that it’s easier to heat the hall than the church.  They had tables set up, and you could help yourself to a hot drink and some food. I didn’t have anything, having just had a cup of coffee at home, and breakfast not long before that. The service was quite late starting, and the sermon was very interactive. The theme was Rejection.  We had a piano to accompany the hymns, but there were some hiccups with sound and microphones.  I was sitting at a table at the back of the hall, and it was quite cold there. There were two heat pumps valiantly trying to warm the room, but from where I was sitting, they were pretty ineffective. I think the heating in the Church is better! It’s probably more expensive, too. And, of course, it’s not the same without the beautiful organ. Afterwards I went to the supermarket across the road. I didn’t see one mask there.

The French Film Festival lingers on, with some of the films are now on general release, so, given that the current Covid 19 scare is over, I hope to see some that I had previously missed out on. There was a wonderful review in yesterday’s newspaper of Antoinette in the Cévennes, with the heading “Eat, Bray, Shove”, referring to Antoinette’s donkey – “How a donkey helped a Frenchwoman stop being an ass”.

In the US, other things make the news. There’s been a terrible heat wave in the North West. There have been fires, and fears of fires.  Although it’s been very cold here, I think the cold is preferable, because it’s usually easier to warm up than it is to cool down (providing the power stays on, of course).  Bill Cosby has been released from prison, and although he’s not been declared innocent, he cannot be tried again on charges of sexual misconduct.  A Trump executive, Alan Weisselberg, and the Trump business organisation, have been indicted on charges of tax evasion.  It was interesting to see Weisselberg do what they call the “perp walk”, hand cuffed, and later labelled a potential flight risk, and having to surrender his passport. “This family is known for using private jets”. He pled Not Guilty to a charge of evading almost $(US)1,000,000 in taxes. The podcast and news pundits’ responses were varied: this is small beer; he will/won’t flip; this is just the beginning.  My reaction was that Trump can’t pardon him for this. It will be interesting to see what happens.  Don Jr’s comparison of this “witch hunt” with Putin’s poisoning of Navalny seems just totally inappropriate. Eric Trump admitted to receiving fringe benefits in CNN (“Everybody does it!”). That’s just fine, of course, as long as you declare them and pay tax on them.

Other political stalemates continue.  But there’s been an outpouring of grief for the residents lost and unaccounted for in the Miami Surfside Condo collapse.  The remainder of the building is to be demolished; meanwhile, other apartment dwellers are very worried about their own buildings’ strength, as well they might be. In another part of Florida, an apartment building has been evacuated, this time for fear of Hurricane Elsa. Does anyone remember Hurricane Katrina, and the terrible flooding and deaths there? Was this somehow less of a tragedy?  It’s kind of obvious that the Miami condo was in a wealthier area, and that somehow these lives mattered more? Of course, every life lost is a tragedy, and it must be desperately sad to lose a loved one and not have the body to mourn and confirm the sad reality.

It’s also been reported that Donald Rumsfeld, best remembered in some circles for his “unknown unknowns”, has died. This reminds me that the former president’s populism, the 45^th, wasn’t new to the US and some of its strange ideas. Remember the huge protests about the war in Iraq and the supposed Weapons of Mass Destruction?  I have listened to a podcast series on the Road to Iraq, part of the Slow Burn series published by Slate. Back then (it doesn’t seem so long ago), people were lied to by senior politicians, Dubya Bush staged a Mission Accomplished photo op, and further doubt was cast on the intelligence agencies. It then became very easy to discredit them, to think it’s normal for politicians to lie to the general public, and to cast doubt on authority in general; in short, to pave the way for authoritarianism. Right-wing politics seem to be in fashion right now, drawing comparisons with the rise of fascism in the 1930’s. Right now democracy seems to be an endangered species. I think we should hold politicians to account, but have some respect for those who would speak the truth, as they know it.

Yesterday a new Listener and a new issue of the LRB arrived, but we didn’t see them sticking out of the letter box until today.  They should keep me quiet for a while!

It’s now Monday, July 5^th here.  There are Matariki celebrations everywhere, and Matariki will be celebrated as a public holiday in future.  The trouble is, it’s very cold! I am loathe to go out in the cold. But it’s great to see the celebrations. Matariki represents the Maori New Year, and also the Pleiades star cluster. We are learning more about it every year. Somehow Hōhepa managed to fold their Blazing Star Winter Celebration into Matariki some time ago. Ngā mihi.

Today is Tuesday June 29^th. Kia ora katoa.

It is freezing here today. A polar blast has seized the South Island, and Wellington too, bringing snow to parts of the city. This morning websites variously gave temperatures in degrees Celsius as follows: 3, -2, 4; the Stuff site says 7 now, but it is really cold outside. It took quite a while to warm up inside, too, despite having hot showers and wearing extra layers of clothing. Note: my computer now says the temperature is 6 degrees Celsius.

Yesterday (Monday), forecast to have a cold start at 5 degrees, was really warm and balmy: I went out for lunch without a jacket or coat, and in the afternoon had to change into cooler clothes. The sunshine at lunchtime was so sharp that although unwilling I had to move out of it. But last night there was a huge peal of thunder, and a very heavy rain shower, that woke me. I must say I find these changes a little disconcerting: it would be appreciated if we had some consistency for a few days!  Despite the cold wind, planes just keep coming in, flying overhead, so it must be a southerly wind.

Yesterday three old friends visited. It’s nice to spend time with people you’ve known for a long time. We especially enjoyed talking about our grandchildren, all enjoying a degree of trust (one hopes!) and challenge. Spending time with them is gratifying and pleasantly tiring. We do things we didn’t do with our own children. Why not? Well, we were working, always tired, and generally preoccupied with getting through the day, after meeting essential commitments.  Entertaining our friends, it was nice to get out the good china, cutlery and glassware again. I didn’t drop anything. The tablecloth and napkins weren’t stained. There were no worries about it not being warm enough, although when we said good bye it was already cold and windy outside, in contrast to the fine, warm weather earlier in the day.

Tonight at midnight Wellington moves back to Level 1 for Covid 19. There are still no new community cases of Covid 19, and it has not been detected in the wastewater. So that’s good, although in Australia cases continue to rise (29 new cases today), and the Delta variant of Covid 19 is causing great concern around the world. The Australian person who visited Wellington has been diagnosed with the Delta variant, and his partner has now been diagnosed with it too. There was concern last yesterday that two close contacts of an infected mine worker from the Northern Territory of Australia were in Wellington: apparently they have both returned negative Covid tests (for now!). 

The vaccination availability is causing concern. While some people in Wellington have been vaccinated, many have not, and the country is due to run out of vaccine next week. It’s also expecting a new supply; meanwhile, Group3 (which includes us) is now advised that we will be asked to make appointments from the end of July. So the whole situation is a cause for concern. While I am relieved that there’s no apparent spread from the Australian visitors’ escapades, I can’t help feeling that we’ve just dodged a bullet, but that the coronavirus is waiting to catch up with us. It just doesn’t feel right that we should be in this situation. Do we feel guilt, perhaps? Or just apprehension? The virus has loomed to the forefront for us, after being in the rear-view mirror for the last year or so. Sure, we’ve refined our precautions, by wearing masks on public transport (well, most of us do); scanning wherever we go (and adding manual entries if the phone won’t scan the QR code); being extra careful not to touch surfaces and wash hands whenever we come home. I feel a bit anxious again.

Here in Wellington, there is another crisis to deal with. In addition to the wintry blast, there are very high waves on Wellington’s South Coast, and some shoreline residents have been evacuated. A state of Emergency has been declared for some coastal areas. It’s very good to have someone in charge, and that people are able to evacuate relatively safely.  The Desert Road is closed, and the situation in the South Island is quite bad, with extreme cold and road closures. Evidently some have lost power – I certainly hope we don’t here. Goodness knows how anyone survived the freezing conditions in Texas a few months ago.

It has been brutally cold here. You go into a room, and wonder why the heater’s not on, only to find it’s on High!  I tried to heat some food in the Microwave, and it took ages. I tried to make some toast, and had to keep toasting the bread.

Meanwhile in the US they have been having a heat wave. The heat continues to break records in Oregon. People are trying to check into hotels which have air conditioning. It’s a reminder that human beings struggle with extremes of heat and cold, and are very dependent on a power source for heating or cooling.

It’s now Wednesday June 30^th. I had a really good night’s sleep – I was woken at 7:45 am by the alarm on my phone! That hasn’t happened in ages. I count it success if I don’t wake till 6 am. Today the weather is much, much better, although my computer says it’s 6 degrees Celsius. It feels warmer than that. It’s overcast, with a slight wind, and cold, of course, but it’s kind of nice to wear my puffer jacket, with the hood up, warm gloves, and a scarf, and feel not too uncomfortable outside.  I feel a bit protected, wearing gloves. The weather yesterday alarmed my sons overseas, but the real drama was on the South Coast and the road to Eastbourne, where some people had to be evacuated and waves washed over the roads.  There was some snow, too, and hail in some areas. For us, it was just bitterly cold. I was even cold in bed, and had to get up and have a warm shower before dressing warmly. Shawls and rugs were needed as well. I know I’m repeating myself here. I’m not having a “senior moment”.

This morning, given that I had slept much better than usual, and the weather was so much improved, I went to hymn singing.  A few other brave souls were there as well. As usual, it was lovely, and I was pleased that I went. Afterwards, the nearby café had several empty tables, so I had morning tea – a scone and a long black coffee.  After that I caught a bus into town, where everyone was masked, and you didn’t have to tag on and off.  Perhaps this was industrial action? Who owns Snapper, I wonder? Never mind, it seemed like a kind gesture, for those who don’t have a gold card.

In town, I thought about going to Unity Books, and decided against it, because Mr Covid from Australia went there.  Bother!  It was one of the first places I went to when our lock down was lifted last year, and we could go further than two kilometres from home again. There are very few nice bookshops left in the Wellington region.  Of course I don’t need any more books, but it’s nice to handle books and decide what to reserve from the library.

I did some shopping and caught a bus home, walking the last distance from the shopping centre. Only one passenger was unmasked on the bus.  It doesn’t seem too much to ask, to wear a mask on public transport, does it? After all, you’re protecting not just yourself, but others too, including your own family and friends, and especially, the bus driver.  

In Australia, there are 34 new cases of Covid 19. Here in New Zealand, there are no community cases, and one in MIQ. At 1 pm Covid response Minister Chris Hipkins and Dr Bloomfield give another press conference on the situation with vaccines.  Dr Bloomfield sounds amazingly reassuring. He’s very good in these situations (usually). We are reassured that the current supply is being well used, and will run out next Tuesday. They’re of course hoping that the next supply  will arrive as scheduled, and vaccinations can continue. Meanwhile, given the current scare, I think we’d all be relieved if we’d all been vaccinated. 

The Hohepa Family Weekend is now not far off – an occasion of hugging, singing, dancing and general joy and celebration. There’s even to be a Ball, a “Red Carpet” event, and we’re invited to be “dressy”.  That’s something to look forward to – I hope the music’s not too loud – and I hope it’s not too cold. Even better, it’s free of charge. Koha appreciated. As always. I do enjoy an opportunity to dress up. Hopefully I won’t be expected to talk!  I don’t want to appear anti-social, but in my experience, it’s hard to have a conversation at these events. Perhaps Hohepa management will limit some activities, in terms of greetings, to high fives, elbow contact, or better still, “namaste”, where one bows to the other person, with both hands joined, so you can’t shake hands with them. That’s something I’m totally comfortable with.

My granddaughter in the US now has her own email address, so I can communicate with her by email. I enjoyed writing letters to her – the whole issue of “snail mail”, writing legibly, being creative in another way, finding appropriate things to write – the old-fashioned art of letter writing. I now like to think our correspondence has transitioned to email, which is much easier for me. There is much to be thankful for.

That’s it for today. Ngā mihi.