Today is Sunday August 22, 2021. Kia ora, kia kaha!

This morning we are told that 10,000 New Zealanders are self-isolating, being regarded as contacts of people with a positive diagnosis of Covid 19.  (Actually this number was revised downward during the day, to something closer to 8,600). There are 219  places of interest. I just learnt that a worker at Fisher and Paykel HealthCare (which manufactures certain health care devices), has tested positive for Covid 19.  I attended a service at my local church on zoom, and a family reported that they attended Countdown in Johnsonville at a time of interest, and so are isolating. It’s noteworthy that in the past the Ministry of Health was only worried about what it classified as “close” contacts. Now, if you were at a location when an infected person was there, you are at risk, and you need to ring Health Line on 0800 358 5453, self-isolate, and get advice about when and where to get tested. Even though there are 300 people answering calls, there are significant waits on the line. Actually, that’s encouraging. Kiwis are by and large willing to help. I don’t think we were complacent: you go ahead and do what you can, when you can, with care. I still think it was a good idea to have our party last Saturday evening. Kiwis are compliant in the main about taking care, being kind, taking tests and having the vaccine. Thankfully.

Over the pond, police have had to break up protests against lockdown, the most significant being a protest in Melbourne yesterday. Today’s figures for Australia aren’t out yet (at 11:33 am), which means they’re probably awful (or maybe it’s just Sunday and some Aussies are having a day off).  Meanwhile, their Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, says the Sydney lockdown will be lifted when the vaccination rate reaches 70% ! That seems really stupid, to me. There are reports of Australian school children being really badly affected. How heartless can you be? There is concern about Aboriginal folk, too. I remember that the Delta variant of Covid 19 is thought to have come here from Australia, via MIQ. The Australian government has been very cruel at times, foolish, too, in my view.  Victoria has recorded 65 new cases of the virus, with 21 of them being from Shepparton (which is having a bit of an outbreak). There are no new cases in Queensland. At 1 pm the Guardian reports there are 830 new cases in NSW. There are fears of anti-lockdown protests spreading the virus.

Here Prime Minister Ardern has warned that there are contacts of known Covid 19 cases throughout the South Island.  No cases have been identified yet in the Mainland, but I fear it’s only a matter of time. Once again, there’s no rush. We aren’t going anywhere or doing anything.   I look at the coming week’s appointments in my diary, but I expect that none of them will be happening. 

Evidently Marcus Lush, a radio host, is self-isolating in Bluff after visiting an Auckland “place of interest”.  Kiwis get about, and indeed, why wouldn’t they?

This morning’s paper is filled with appealing travel options around New Zealand – your local Bali – but by the way, we’re under lockdown here, for the entire country.  It’s even scarier to think that there might be infections in the South Island.  Meanwhile, planned events have been cancelled, or put on hold, although you can still buy tickets for Auckland’s Fashion Week August 23 – 29, 2021. Somehow, I don’t think this will be happening. There are reports of people trying to go on holiday, or rent Airbnb accommodation.  While we’ve all tried to support local tourism, this is not the time to do so. Wellington’s celebrated Visa on a plate has been put on hold. I imagine the WOW organisers will be holding their breath, wondering if this can go ahead from 30 September to 15 October this year as planned. It was cancelled last year.

We await the 1 pm news, which will give us more information (and, I hope, not more confusion).

Chris Hipkins and Dr Bloomfield attend the 1 pm Press conference.  There’ll be a 3 pm press conference tomorrow (Monday), at which there should be a decision about remaining in lockdown, with perhaps different statuses for different areas.  Sign-in will become compulsory with the event organiser being responsible for people signing in or scanning the QR code on their mobile phone. There are 21 new cases, although we’re not told where specifically. Some wastewater testing in Wellington at Moa Point has indicated the presence of coronavirus. This outbreak is significant because of the number of large organisations or gatherings involved. The Church of Christ gatherings in Freeman’s Bay are more significant as a location of interest – apparently 7 cases came from there. There are five people in hospital, none in ICU. The cases from the Crowne Plaza Hotel MIQ are considered to be part of the community cluster. We still don’t know if there are any cases in the South Island. Don’t travel unless you have to!  Maintain social distancing!  I’m sure that my upbringing in a very strict religious group has prepared me well for this. There’s plenty of vaccine, it’s still arriving regularly. You can have a six-week gap between jabs.  There is some confusion over numbers of new cases in Wellington. Apparently there are 20 new cases in Auckland and one in Wellington. The Wellington case was reported on Saturday evening, but added to Sunday’s (today’s) total, bringing the total number of cases in Wellington to six.  It’s confusing but it seems that the Wellington cases are connected to each other, after Auckland exposure, and are not seemingly random like many of the Auckland ones, popping up at quite disparate locations in Auckland.  That’s a relief.

JD’s family in Australia want to have a phone get-together this afternoon. In my experience, these can be rather frustrating link ups, but I’m prepared to give this a go. Actually some of us hooked up, and had a great chat. One of my sons rang, and we had a good talk. He is enjoying lockdown! So that’s a relief.

Late-afternoon there are reports that a third AUT (Auckland University of Technology) student has tested positive (I didn’t know there’d been a second).  Let’s hope that future cases are limited to the known locations of interest in Auckland. From now on, it’s compulsory to sign in to any location, or to scan the QR code. This makes good sense. Some adjustments have been made, and I think the government’s response has been quite amazing. We only found out that there was an infected case in the community on Tuesday afternoon, August 17th! That’s not even a week ago! Now almost 10,000 people are isolating, and there are many locations of interest. The list is growing – as at Sunday afternoon it was 280. It’s very helpful to be able to access this easily, and to have the dates and times affected.

Some Countdown supermarkets have closed in order to do a “deep clean”, whatever that means. 

Some lovely photos of our party have come through. That’s a big thrill, I worried that we wouldn’t have a photographic record of it.

I’m pleased we celebrated while we could. That’s it for today. Ngā mihi.

Today is Saturday August 21^st, 2021. Kia ora, kia kaha!

Today it’s fine, after a very cold start. But it’s nice to have a fine day. Already teddy bears are appearing in people’s windows. Several folk are out walking in the sunshine.

I went shopping early this afternoon, hoping to get bread that I like. And I did – a loaf of Vogel bread, and one of Mohlenberg (I could have got Freya’s Roggenbrot, which I also rather like). The store was quite busy, and the distancing stickers have been put out again. All staff and shoppers were masked.  It is a tad annoying to get everything out of one’s trolley, only to put it back in again. Shopping is really different under lock down: one tends to buy whatever one can, not wanting to go shopping very often at present. I also noticed that, as last year, coffee beans were really scarce, so  I felt fully justified in buying more expensive ones.  I also bought eggs, tinned food, and more toilet paper (yes, I fear we are down to our last half dozen rolls! I wouldn’t want to run out!). We were both hungry, but I didn’t buy a ready-made roll, I felt that was a bit risky. I did buy a sultana scone. It  had been cooked!

There isn’t so much news today. At 1 pm it was reported there were 21 new community cases of covid 19, three in Wellington and 18 in Auckland.  One of the Wellington cases is a student from Auckland who flew to Wellington to be with family, and tested positive. More locations of interest have been published: these presumably include service stations along the way between Auckland and Wellington (in Tokoroa, Waiouru and Bulls); a second student has tested positive from AUT; a dental centre in Glenfield is a location of interest, as are St Pierre’s Sushi at one entrance to the Johnsonville Shopping Centre, a Countdown store in Newtown, and the large Pak’N ’Save store in Kilbirnie. More locations visited by the Miramar case are still to be published.  Meanwhile, there’s not much news as yet about the 21 new community cases The list of locations of interest keeps  growing,  although the Government is now pretty sure that the original Delta case came in through MIQ, and consequently they have taken some early sites off the list. Oh, and one infected student of Auckland University attended a Ball with 500 students present. And the other party celebrating at the Spark Arena in Auckland was Bayleys’ Real Estate. By now thousands of people must be self-isolating, and trying to get a Covid test. Additional testing sites have been set up .Apparently an Auckland  bus driver has now tested positive. That’s hardly surprising. Late on Saturday night I learn that a Sky City employee has tested positive for Covid 19, and a member of the Pukekohe High Scholl staff, as has a student at Western Springs College. This virus certainly gets around. I am thinking of a nephew of ours who lives in Auckland with his wife and three young children. I do hope they’re all right. The other people I know are mostly older folk, who would not get around so much; also, this Delta virus seems to be hitting young people much harder this time; when we had it badly, almost eighteen months ago, it was older people who were mainly affected. All the deaths from the virus in New Zealand were of older folk.

We knew about the Sky City Casino exposure; that a bus driver is infected is hardly surprising, although he was driving in the Onehunga area; a Sky TV worker based at Mt Wellington has been diagnosed positive. There are cases popping up all over Auckland, which is very alarming. The Honourable Grant Robertson warned this morning that things will get worse before they get better, but this is ridiculous!  This virus must spread so easily.  I just hope there are no locations of interest identified where we’ve been there at the date and time specified. I fear for those who came to our party last Saturday night: was it really only a week ago?  It seems like ages now. The warm glow it left has largely worn off.

In Australia, Victoria has recorded 77 new cases; NSW has a whopping 825 new infections. ACT has 8 new cases.  It must get to a point when you have so many cases that contact tracing and location tracking become rather pointless: already people are affected, and are isolating, at 6 large Auckland schools, two universities, the Spark Arena, the Sky City Casino, and several large supermarkets.  When will this peak?

The press today is rather unruly. Commentators have gone from everything’s reasonable and wise to things are terrible and there are many complaints. I realise this is annoying, but for the most part this is being very well managed. If one gets caught up in feeling hard done by, I think you have to be kind and nice and acknowledge that most people are doing their best, be they shop workers or medical staff. It’s anxious and frustrating for them too.  Really, the more we all play our part and behave nicely, the sooner this will be over (one hopes). A few mistakes are bound to be made.

The situation in Afghanistan remains challenging, with harrowing sights at Kabul Airport still, and reports of the Taliban torturing and killing people.  President Biden has made another speech on television, and been accused of not taking enough responsibility, or showing enough empathy. He mentioned in his latest speech that his son Beau (who later died of cancer), served there. That must have been an anxious and terrifying time for him, and his father. From listening to podcasts today, the general view seems to be that the war was unwinnable, lacked a clear objective, and cost a very great deal of taxpayer money; on the other hand, contractors to the military did quite well out of it. Remember when Betsy de Vos’s brother, Erik Prince, wanted to send a private army there? I bet he intended to charge the US government a great deal of money. It seems that Trump and his allies (like Mike Pompeo and Stephen Miller) made several very unsavoury deals with the Taliban, and had thwarted efforts to approve specialist visas for those who had helped the Americans. Biden inherited this mess, and is now being blamed, unfairly to some degree, for it.  It does seem to me, however, that a better effort should have been made to ensure the safe evacuation of those who were entitled to leave Afghanistan.  Evidently helicopters are being used to fly people from some of the more remote areas in Afghanistan to Kabul Airport, also to convey people to the Airport and thus avoid the Taliban-controlled checkpoints. It seems very sad that not only will this be a tragedy for many who wish to leave, but it may cast a blight on Joe Biden’s presidency, as if Delta weren’t doing that already. Joe, we’re rooting for you!  My friends and I! 

That’s it for now. I’m sure there’ll be more sad news tomorrow. Ngā mihi.

Today is Friday August 20^th, 2021, third day of our snap level 4 lockdown. Kia ora. My home help has been cancelled, which is hardly surprising.

This morning my computer is going very slowly indeed. I’m typing this in Word, but it’s taken ages for Word to open. Fortunately I have the news on my phone. My computer is not multi-tasking at present.

There’s lots of news this morning. Don’t get bored yet! We may be in for a long haul, back to the anxieties of March 2020, when New Zealand was subsumed by a rash of cases of Covid 19. I remember chafing at restrictions, and then being thankful for them. You just have to get into a different gear. Once again, I am thankful not to have young children, or active teenagers, or even a boarder at home.

Early this morning I learnt more news. The school pupils at Northcote and Lynfield Colleges were part of the community cluster; but their close contacts, or even peripheral contacts, are all regarded as being at risk; think of their families, too, their sports, and whatever transport they may have used.

Also I learnt early this morning that someone has tested positive (22^nd community case) who went to the Emergency Room at North Shore Hospital, and then went to Waitakere Hospital. Consequently the Emergency Room at North Shore Hospital has been closed, begging the question: if you are sick, where do you go?  Auckland is huge, covering a large distance. We also learnt that a staff member at Auckland’s NZ Post Mail Centre in Highbrook has tested positive.

Then at 11 am the stuff website announced that there are probably 2-3 cases of Covid 19 in Wellington. The new totals are to be announced at the 1 pm news briefing, where the “Dynamic Duo” are set for another series of their rather absorbing reality show.  That’s absorbing, of course, if you’re safely out of contention for having the coronavirus. But it’s getting closer and closer. Wellington! That’s scary.

My cousin just rang from her home in Seatoun. She says that the new cases are not yet confirmed, but are thought to be in Miramar and Johnsonville. That is getting very close to our homes, seeing that I live in Churton Park.  Apparently the Government’s decision about lockdowns is set to be announced at 3 pm. My computer is still playing up. I’ve had to create a new document, and I can’t look at any other site. I can’t reboot, either. My computer’s time is stuck on 11:06 am.

Testing and vaccinations are to be ramped up in Wellington. I’m due to get my second jab next Monday – in Johnsonville. Cheers for that! I should have stuck to Plan A, which was to have Jab 2 last Tuesday. Then, on the other hand, I might have picked up Covid, given that stricter protocols weren’t in place. At midday the NZ Herald reports that there are at least 30 cases of Covid in the community, including in Wellington, and that the lockdown is to be extended. Well, frankly, I’d now be upset if it weren’t. In Auckland, 5 vaccination centres have been closed and the staff directed to help at overrun testing sites. There are reports of people frustrated at having to queue for testing, but hey, they’re in their cars, they can listen to the radio or spend time with their phone, and when did traffic in Auckland ever not have to queue? Dr Bloomfield always expresses confidence that everything can be taken care of, and expresses amazement that this may not be so in reality (“Oh, is that right? I haven’t heard that”).

In Australia, 55 new cases have been reported in Victoria (that’s slightly down from 57 yesterday). Our local situation, together with what’s happening across the Tasman Sea, has distracted us from the tragedy unfolding in Afghanistan. It’s later reported that NSW recorded 642 (644 according to The Guardian newspaper)  new cases, and four deaths.

As it turned out, there was no “presser” (as the Americans call them) at 1 pm, but there will be one at 3 pm.  Instead, there was to be an announcement from the Ministry of Health at 1 pm, which eventually turned up. It confirmed that there are in fact three new cases of Covid 19 in Wellington, and 8 in Auckland, bringing today’s released total to 11 (the same as yesterday). It turns out that of the Wellington cases, two of them are in the same household, and the three of them all went to Auckland, to a location of interest (the casino, perhaps?)  I only ever visited the casinos at Christchurch, Auckland and Nice once, and found them to be desperately sad places.

I think that’s all we know about the new Wellington cases, at this stage. Oh, and by the way, Sir Michael Cullen has died of cancer, at 78. He just had a memoir published. He was a great statesman and Minister of Finance, and his skills are sorely missed. I reflect on this loss. Isn’t it strange how, during lockdown and a time of fear, one gets lazier and hungrier. I will have to go shopping again sometime soon.

My eldest grandson has told us what he’d  like for his birthday, and I’ve ordered these things online. I was going to wait for the 3 pm press conference, but given that there are confirmed cases in Wellington, I doubt that our lockdown will be lifted just yet. I fear the presents won’t come in time for his birthday – I wish I’d got them last Tuesday before we knew this dreadful news.

We just had the 3 pm press conference. Once again, I marvel at Prime Minister Ardern’s ability to communicate without showing any frustration with some of the journalists’ rather silly questions. With Dr Bloomfield, she performs very well, with the right amount of gratitude, information, and a “please be sensible” attitude.

The whole of New Zealand is to stay at Level 4 until midnight on Tuesday. There will be a press conference on Monday to indicate which areas, if any, might go to a lower level. Today, there are again 11 new community cases, this time 8 in Auckland and 3 in Wellington. These three (two of them are in the same “bubble”) all visited Auckland, two of them flying back, and the other driving, visiting four (!) petrol stations en route, and cafés, etc. Locations of interest are to be advised on the Ministry of Health website. Of course, as the PM pointed out, the sites have to be notified first, before they are published. So that’s that, then. No movies, no church on Sunday, no cafés.  Severe boredom continues.

It turns out that one Wellington person went to an Awards dinner in Auckland at the Spark Arena held on August 12, That does seem rather a long time ago, although, of course, many would have been there.

A local location of interest has also been published: a sushi shop in Porirua – One Sushi at North City Porirua’s Food Court on Tuesday August 17. Oh dear, you think you’re safe, but perhaps not so safe.

I listened to the Rachel Maddow Show. In the US, three senators have tested positive for Covid 19: Roger Wicker, Angus King, and John Hickenlooper. They had all been vaccinated. Vaccination no longer seems to be the magic bullet that we had hoped for. Countries like Israel which had a high rate of vaccination now have high case numbers and deaths. In Alabama, there is a quite desperate situation with more sick people than the medical system can cope with. More and more young people are getting ill very quickly with Covid 19 than previously. There is genuine fear everywhere about children in schools. On one podcast I listened to, a doctor predicted that this pandemic would be with us for three years. It’s already been almost two: perhaps the end is in sight? Or will this always be with us?

I just received a text advising me that my Monday booking for my second jab has been cancelled, and asking me to book again. I can’t rebook until September 15th, some time away. That is just so annoying! Don’t they know that I have a myriad of medical conditions?

We certainly live in interesting times. Nga mihi.

PS as I get ready to go to bed, there is more news. Several locations of interest in Johnsonville have been named, and I can safely report that we went to none of them. None of them are places I would normally go to, and they’re not in the Shopping Centre. The Countdown supermarket in Johnsonville is the one in Johnsonville Road, not the one in the Johnsonville Shopping Centre, where I sometimes go. An Air NZ flight from Auckland to Wellington between 5 and 6 pm on Sunday August 15 is named; we were at Wellington Airport, having coffee with friends, but they were flying to Auckland; we would have been well out of the Airport before that flight arrived. We were there the next day, however.

There is more news from Auckland, too. An Auckland University student has tested positive, who flew home to Wellington on Wednesday (by which time we were all in lockdown, and I didn’t go anywhere). Students from, two more Auckland Colleges have also tested positive: one from De La Salle College, and one from McAuley High School. Hilary Barry is isolating – she MC’d the big dinner at the Spark Arena last week, where a bar worker has tested positive. There are now over 130 locations of interest, in Auckland, Coromandel, and Wellington. This outbreak has tentacles which spread out wider and wider. I fear that soon there’ll be so many people isolating that there’ll be few left to “man the pumps”, i.e. offer essential services like food, medicines, petrol, vaccines or tests. It is an offence not to self-isolate if you were at one of the locations of interest at the specified time; you’re required to follow the instructions given. Some institutions have already closed, or are open for fewer hours. I’m sure there’ll be more news tomorrow morning. In the meantime, go well, and be at peace.

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.