Firstly, we dropped to alert level 2 today, we're still not out of the woods but we've certainly found the pathway out. Well done New Zealand, let's just keep kicking Covid-19's ass. I feel very privileged to live in a country with a government that is putting it's people first, today's Budget did just that, many won't like it but if gets children out of poverty, people back to work and looks after the environment I'm all good with that. The second first was confirmation of our being connected to Ultra Fast Broadband on Monday, it's the first time we've been able to get it, living in town has ..read more

A week ago New Zealand went down one alert level, to level 3. Basically level 4 but with take out, which I read somewhere ? it made me laugh. It was a little bit more than that of course, some work places were able to return to work, as long as they were able to practice safe distancing etc as advised by the government.Some schools reopened allowing children of parents who were able to return to work but had no other child care available to them. It also meant you could travel up to 40kms for exercise. Not really sure how I feel about that, far too many thinking that it was all over and decide ..read more

As of midnight tomorrow, Monday 27th April, we go to Alert level 3, so out of level 4. What does that mean? Technically it's pretty much the same as level 4 but some can return to work as long as social distancing is observed, some businesses and food outlets can open, as long as they can operate in a contact-less manner. We can now use the car to drive to the beach say BUT only of you stay local, if you need to drive more than 20 minutes then it's not deemed as local! Also you can extend your bubble but only by one or two people. Some schools are reopening for those people who can return to w ..read more

Fingers crossed that it is the last week at Alert Level 4, all indications are good. However our government is rightfully cautious and we as a nation need to not be complacent. We're not out of the woods yet, we'll find out on Monday if we are to drop to Level 3. When you see the figures of cases and deaths from around the world I am so pleased to be living in New Zealand, sadly to date there have been 9 deaths, all elderly people which is extremely sad, not the way they should have spent their last days. We have 1,401 confirmed and probable cases, 770 of those cases have recovered, so we're h ..read more

I've officially lost track of where we are, I do know that we're in our third week. Things are looking good so far as total cases of Covid 19 goes, the numbers announced daily are getting less each time, sadly though we've had 4 deaths, our hearts go out to those who have lost  family members and were unable to be with them in their final moments. On the whole most people are staying at home, only going out for essential supplies which is encouraging but there are some who think they are a law unto themselves and do what the hell they please. I really don't understand their thought proces ..read more

So now I've lost track of what day we are on, but to be honest it's what I'm like most of the time anyway. I'm quite happy to be at home, the challenge is going to be having Joe home for the duration!! ???  Just kidding, I have a long list... This morning we went for another walk around Lorenzen Bay, the tide was further in but was on it's way out. There was no-one around, so we took the opportunity to let the dogs off the lead, we've not done this before as there was no real need to have them on leads back on the lifestyleblock. They were really well behaved and thoroughly enjoyed being ..read more

 One Week in lockdown complete! Today was an absolute stunner of a day,  I love autumn, especially when it's like today. Not a lot got done today other than snoozing, a lot, for me and Joe had a video conference and a few phone calls for work to attend to, it's a worrying time at the moment. I can state categorically that the dogs are unperturbed by recent events Before dinner we decided to enjoy the lovely weather and take the dogs for a walk to Lorenzen Bay. The tide was out, we walked along the shore edge below the houses on the right side of the bay.  Great views ..read more

I doubt I'll do a post every day, unless there's something interesting to share. There's been more sorting and organising, this time the garage. Joe assembled the cupboards he bought before lock down, and we've pretty filled them already, when it's all properly sorted I'll share photos then. Day 5 - Monday Joe, as I have mentioned previously, may have to work the occasional day to do maintenance at essential service sites, such as the dairies and power stations. This was the case on Monday and Tuesday, hopefully it won't happen too often. When sorting the garage on Sunday I found some more c ..read more

If truth be told this isn't really much different to what I usually do, it just has a different view! Although there could be more beach involved! There will be once this is over, as long as everyone sticks to the plan and stays home, the sooner we all do it the sooner we can leave our homes and go outside blinking into the sun, we might get to meet our neighbours. At the moment we are all just staying in touch by regular emails via our neighbourhood community watch thingie. So what did we do today? There was of course this first View through the square window    You can glimpse ..read more

It's day two of lock down, but I don't like that word, I saw something on Facebook today and thought, yeah, I like that much better, here it is, rāhui  1. (verb) (-ngia,-tia) to put in place a temporary ritual prohibition, closed season, ban, reserve - traditionally a rāhui was placed on an area, resource or stretch of water as a conservation measure or as a means of social and political control for a variety of reasons which can be grouped into three main categories: pollution by tapu, conservation and politics. Death pollutes land, water and people through tapu. A rāhui is a device for ..read more