January 26

This week is mostly a work week for Frances, so not too much play to report.  She’s commandeering one of the upstairs bedrooms as the research house south.  The Wi-Fi here is fast, but has been unstable at inconvenient times during meetings.  So Jim added a 10 metre Cat6 cord from the router – which juuuust reaches the desk upstairs.

We, with the rest of Northland, continue to hold our breath on how the single COVID case here will impact the wider community.  So far, no lockdown.  For now what we know is that the one known case apparently caught the virus in managed isolation (MIQ) AFTER testing negative on day 11 or 12.  She was released on day 14 of her stay (as is the process) without any significant symptoms – but became ill shortly afterward.  (Her case is an identical genetic match to one in the MIQ hotel she was in.) The health ministry has identified 16 close contacts, and 15 have so far tested negative (the 16^th is pending).  Using the COVID tracing app they have notified anyone who visited the same places as the infected woman to isolate at home until they can be tested and get a negative result.  Some 2,000 people have been tested and there are no positives so far.

I had a lovely lunch and catch up with my friend, Fleur, a retired teacher, who lives in Whangarei.  Fleur and I attended Wanganui Girls College (a boarding high school) in the distant past.  We actually only overlapped by one year, but it is really lovely to pick up with someone after so many years.  Fleur has been generous with her tips about what to see and do in Whangarei.  She’s a knitter and gifted me a beautiful hand knitted scarf, which I will wear with great joy when the weather cools.

For now, the weather is gorgeous.  We are continuing to enjoy our walking loop especially early in the morning when it is cool.  Jim has been enjoying the butterflies in our backyard and the birds. If the alert levels here don’t change to constrain our travel plans, we hope to head south to Auckland on Saturday and then to the south end of Lake Taupo on Sunday. (photos from Taupo for sure!)