Changes are happening – Covid-19…

March 15th – This is where I start keeping little post scripts in my journal about Covid-19. I will add these posts separately going forward.

The same day we headed up north, we found out that afternoon that we wouldn’t be heading to Australia. It was a bit surreal to hear the news at first. Australia was enforcing a 14 day quarantine period for anyone coming into the country. Up until this point, other than the Pasifika Festival, we were still unaffected in NZ. We had watched as the world bought up all the toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Laughed at the memes as they came through. There were some good ones.

But things changed quickly. We were suppose to leave NZ on March 19th for Australia (OZ), in just 4 days. With the new quarantine rules in OZ, we wouldn’t be able to go. We were all sad about the news but the Peanut took it especially hard. She was really looking forward to seeing her cousin. The cousin she had only met once, and completely bonded with, 3 years ago in South Africa. It was disappointing but completely out of our control. We notified our friends and family over there. They all said it was sad but they obviously understood. It was a strange feeling not to have control over our travel plans but not completely foreign to us either. Travel is all about discovery and adventure. So when things like this happen, you roll with the punches. Or you make margaritas out of limes.

Since everything in NZ was still ok, we decided that we would stay in NZ to see the south island. They still only had a half dozen cases. And none on the south island – yet. Things were operating and everything was still open.

The hubby got most of our travel bookings in OZ cancelled. Tomorrow I’ll get started on rebooking the flights home. Or at least that was the plan….