After a little over a month it is time to be leaving Turkey. Minor boat repairs and maintenance are complete, and we are ready to sail from Bodrum. I’ve really enjoyed my time in Turkey. Although New Zealand is a great place, it’s bit like visiting Tasmania; it’s across the sea and a little different, but it’s similar to home and feels very familiar. So it’s been great to spend time in a country that feels like ‘overseas’. From here…
As of today, Turkey has had 259,784 cases of Covid-19, of which 9,727 have proven fatal. Daily totals of new cases are on the rise, and have been around 2000 each day for the last week. Measures are in place to reduce the transmission of Covid-19 in Istanbul. At street level, everyone is wearing a mask. The only time it’s considered acceptable to remove it is when eating, drinking, or having a smoke (which is very popular). It is not…
It was odd waiting in the Auckland Airport International Departure lounge with only a handful of other travellers and watching the tumbleweeds roll by. There’s always a strange feeling around a typically busy place that finds itself, for whatever reason, near deserted. All staff were wearing facemasks, and when I entered the lounge I put mine on too. I don’t think I’ve worn anything like a face mask since we ran around at primary school playing ‘goodies and baddies’. During…
I was wondering if the day would ever come, but after seven months my two-week stay in New Zealand has finally come to an end. All things considered, it was a pretty good place to see off the initial phase of the Corona pandemic. The way the country was lead during the crisis was impressive. So was the way the nation responded to the serious restrictions placed upon both work and private life. If I had left Australia a couple…
When I arrived in New Zealand way back in mid-March I had two weeks of travels planned before moving on to South America. I remember stocking up on food in the supermarket, and wondering if I would get through an entire jar of peanut butter during my stay. Turns out I did, and yesterday I bought another jar. That’s about five so far. I still have no idea when I will leave New Zealand. I could return to Australia, go…
On June 8th, Jacinda announced the end of Alert Level 2 restrictions, and a move to Alert Level 1. The government’s decision was based on 40 days having passed since the last identified community-transmitted case of Corona, 17 days since a new case, and zero known active cases in New Zealand. Officials have stated that the virus will have been eliminated when 28 days have past with no new infections. The PM congratulated the Kiwi ‘Team of Five Million’ for…
‘North, south, east and west.’ Last week I caught the Interislander Ferry from Wellington to Picton. Although Wellington is in the south of the north island, and Picton is in the north of the south island (stay with me), both towns are on the same latitude. However, when travelling to Picton it is still colloquially referred to as heading ‘south’ (though in fact you’re heading west), and heading to the north island from Picton is referred to as ‘north’ (despite…
On Thursday morning I walked into a ‘shop’ that wasn’t a supermarket for the first time in over six weeks. It was the office of the hire car company that was providing my ride for the next month. As I walked through the door I said to the booking agent ‘Hey! I’m walking into a shop!!’ She laughed and said ‘It’s been a while!’ Both staff and customers are pleased to see things return to something like normality here in…
As I sat on the couch awaiting the Prime Minister’s 4pm press conference last Monday I was a little tense to say the least. Jacinda was due to announce whether the nation would shift from Alert Level 3 back to Level 2; a change that would significantly move life back towards pre-Corona normality. When she was on the brink of this historic declaration I actually had my hands up to my face in that my-team’s-kicking-for-goal-after-the-siren gesture. ‘Today, I am announcing…
Every so often I’ve wondered what it would be like to be in jail. Not so much having to dodge home-made knives and the amorous advances from other inmates, but whether I could survive the confinement without going mad. Now I’m not saying the New Zealand Corona lockdown is like being in jail, but it has given me a little insight into prolonged isolation. It’s Day 40, and I realised the other day that the last time I had a…