Yesterday’s update gave us information on what will be allowed under level two ‘when we get there’ – those last words repeated by the Prime Minister half a dozen times, just in case you were tempted to think we were already there. The best news for us, and that made me fist pump the air, is that ‘domestic travel will be allowed’. Ohakune here we come! Well, when we officially move down to level two, that is, which is by no means a certainty, and a decision won’t even be announced until Monday.
We’re all a little (a lot) fed up with restricted movements now so are waiting with bated breath (or baited breath, as I read once, sending my head into a spiral of which bait would be used) for the announcement. We’ve enjoyed being able to get takeaway food, queueing for it patiently with the required social distancing, but we now want to step into a restaurant and eat inside.
As is often the case, it’s the small things that are becoming harder to bear. I want to meet friends for a coffee and a walk, and I want to be able to hug them when I do so; I want to sit and share a meal, have a beer or a glass of wine together. I’m looking forward to walking where I can see no buildings, and a mountain dominates the skyline.
Everyone is looking forward to a little more freedom, to be able to go where they want when they want. Of course there will still be restrictions, but they will be a lot less severe, and the main reason that inter-regional travel will be allowed is to try and breathe some life into a tourist industry that is gasping for air. We are happy to help.
I’m not getting ahead of myself here – my policy throughout my life has been to look forward to something only cautiously, just in case it doesn’t actually happen. But just the thought that it might soon be possible lifts the spirits, and in these times we grasp at the tiniest thing that does that.
Tracy Annenberg 