My heart was pounding. I was petrified. We hadn’t done anything wrong. Only that our borrowed car rear seats were filled to the bream with bags full of cloths, pots, bedding and everything that we had packed away from our camper.
–Where have you been? The police woman asks.
–Food shopping, Sorin answers.
The eyes of the policewoman change direction to the rear seats.
–What are all these you are carrying there?
Sorin calmly explained that we are stocking all the gear from our camper which we had sold online.
–Where do you live? The policewoman asks.
–On our sailing boat at Hobsonville Marina, Sorin’s reply comes with calm and confidence.
–Ohhh, your life is full of luxuries: boat, campervan…
We all laughed. And we were freed to continue on our way to the marina, just minutes away. We successfully passed a police filter meant to stop unnecessary people movement during Covid-19 lockdown. Phew!
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Yes, we did sell our camper. Being stuck during Covid Delta variant lockdown in the marina, we spend so much time online and we figured that other people do too. So, Sorin thought it was the best time to put our campervan for sale. He was right, as it only took a couple of days to sell it at the right price.
Spring is here and we are ready for our local sailing adventure once weather improves. Weather in NZ, Auckland is still taking its wild turns throwing at us furious winds and floodings that create great disruptions to life on land and would make life at sea hazardous.
There recently was a state of emergecy in West Auckland that overrode the lockdown restrictions. Weather phenomena causing life threatening situations, like the recent severe floodings with more than 50 homes evacuated, take precedent. After people broke their bubble to save themselves or help others, they were encouraged to rejoin their bubble and keep an eye on any Covid related symptoms.
It is interesting that this was the second time in 6 months that New Zealand Covid lockdown in Auckland was disturbed by extraordinary weather events. In March this year we were encouraged to disregard lockdown restrictions and take to higher grounds in the eventuality the shores would be struck by a tsunami.
Our cruising is not only conditioned by the weather improving, but it is also subject to lockdown eventually coming to an end. On 30 August the level 4 lockdown in Auckland was extended by a further two weeks. Bummer! It seems, however, that NZ is on the right track. From a high of 83 Covid cases per day New Zealand reached a low of 15 cases today.
And no, sadly we will not be setting sail to distant shores. Distant shores in this part of the world still have ‘high walls built around their coastline’ meant to keep away sea nomads like ourselves. So, our sailing around the world remains on hold. We will be cruising in New Zealand yet again.
We applied for a New Zealand visa renewal, that became more and more complicated to obtain. This time we were asked for criminal records from both our countries of citizenship.
Meanwhile, our patience during lockdown having worn off, a kind soul offered us his Auckland abode for a change, whilst he was locking himself down at his farm. We were most pleased with the change of scenery. As much as we love Mehalah, we are bound to get itchy feet in such a confined space.
Compassion, care and community are the principles breathing through every cell of the New Zealand society. Hats off to NZ!
