Deja vu and an update from the Land of the Long White Cloud

It has been a wee while since we checked in.  The kitties arrived, our shipping container arrived, kids started school and my job continues on.   We are settling in nicely in so many ways. 

But then a gut punch with my beautiful mother passing away suddenly on October 18, 2020.  It is really quite surreal- this is almost exactly what happened with our first venture to NZ in 2009.  My father passed away suddenly just 2.5 months after moving to NZ in 2009.  And now my mother has passed. It is uncanny.  

This picture was taken at Hamner Springs, a cute little resort town northwest of Christchurch in 2010.  I loved this woman so, so much. She was not happy when I told her we were moving back to New Zealand this summer.  She was experiencing some memory loss for the last 2 years and Covid had really exacerbated her mental and emotional state which made our move even more difficult (though I know she understood on some level).  She broke her tibia while we were in quarantine and had been recovering well but because of a lack of mobility, she suffered pulmonary emboli and succumbed to a sudden heart attack.  

And as it was 11 years ago, I am headed back to the States for a visit to help sort her estate and spend time with my siblings.  I'm fortunate to have an understanding employer and the resources to be able to travel back but it is daunting.  Covid is surging in the States and there is the post-election turmoil (oy vey but hallelujah that Biden has won, despite what the Trumpster cultists think).  And a temporary and emotional pause to our reintroduction to New Zealand.  I'll be masking up and sequestering in my mini-bubble back in Oregon.  And look forward to a return to my family and new home in early January, after yet another stint in managed quarantine.  Until then...

A letter written to the New Zealand Herald...

 We are living in strange times.  The world is chaotic and unforgiving at this moment in history and a path forward seems confusing to imagine.  The pandemic has exposed the strengths and weaknesses of people, societies and governments and what happens next is largely up to the people in charge of implementing protocols for the citizens of countries across the globe.

My perspective is somewhat unique as our family recently moved back to New Zealand from the United States in late August.  I have viewed the US response to the pandemic and can only describe it as disastrous.  No matter what your view of Trump is, the response from the federal government has been universally regarded as one of the worst in the industrialized world.  The federal health protocols surrounding pandemics had been weakened, even though previous administrations knew that something like Covid-19 was inevitable.  Once the pandemic arrived in the US, its impact was vastly downplayed.  Once the seriousness of the pandemic became apparent, no plan was implemented.  The wearing of masks became a political weapon, distinguishing the left from the right.  The science put forward by the very able officials in charge of overseeing the data and the release of relevant public health protocols was not so casually pushed aside in favor of grandstanding and the carrying out of political vendettas.  Ego, bluster and vindictiveness operated where competency, transparency and accountability was needed.

Covid-19 exposed our family to the gaping holes in the US political machine and we felt our time in the states was over.  We decided to leave by May of 2020.  We touched down in Auckland after our twelve hour flight from San Francisco.  This flight held less than forty passengers and the international terminal at SFO was a graveyard.  The economic devastation of this pandemic was starkly apparent during this transcontinental journey.  People are scared.  People are uncertain about the future and the people in the United States have been abjectly failed by their leaders.

Once we touched down, we were met at the gate by airport and security forces and brought to the Crowne Plaza in Auckland.  Everybody was friendly.  Everybody answered nervous questions with patience and grace.  The armed services at the hotel checked us in and we began our two week quarantine.  It was tedious but overall, the experience was overwhelmingly positive.  For the first time since February, our family felt we were taking part in a concerted effort to mitigate the spread of this pandemic.  Not only were we taking part in a plan but taking part in an EFFECTIVE plan.  The immediate goals and ultimate outcomes were clearly defined by the government.  We watched many of the daily briefings and were nearly overcome with emotion by the basic decency with which these exchanges took place.  Jacinda Ardern, Ashley Bloomfield and others faced difficult questions and provided clear, informative answers while taking responsibility for missteps and miscalculations.  Hearing the words, “We can do better, we must do better” was musical.  At last, competency and accountability.

It is now early October.  Our two children are preparing for their first physical day at school since March.  Meanwhile, back in the US, their classmates languish in online school.  Since arriving in New Zealand, we have sat in cafes without masks, and dined in the spring sunshine with dozens of other patrons.  We travel freely for hiking, fishing, meeting with friends and any other activity or chore that we either need or want to accomplish.  The days of masks seem very far away.  Of course, Covid-19 is out there and frankly, it will probably return to New Zealand.  But Kiwis know this.  They know this because they have leaders they can trust.  They have leaders that are smart, decent and highly competent.  It’s not perfect and people get frustrated but having a plan that stresses science and is operated with transparency and with clear objectives is not something to take for granted.  Our family, for one, feels lucky and privileged to be here.  New Zealand should be proud of what they have accomplished together as a whanau, as a nation.  We are happy to be here and to call New Zealand our new home.

Managed isolation

 

Day 7 of managed isolation and all is well.  Covid negative on our first "swabs".  Hooray! Will be swabbed again on day 11.  Fingers crossed we will continue covid free.  

We have been "busy" with various activities like reading, games, a 1000 piece puzzle, Facetiming with family and friends, going on a 45 minute walk each day and just general lazying about.  We've done some yoga and Mike can be seen above doing a quick cardio workout. The food is passable- too many carbs for my taste but at the end of the day so grateful that we are being taken care of.  

More soon.  

Hoki Mai to NZ and Managed Isolation

 

We arrived in Auckland this morning. What the NZ government has organized in their COVID response at the border is nothing short of a marvel. 

NZ airport officials greeted us off the plane, we did a Covid screening (no test yet) with a nurse and we then went through border patrol and customs. They then loaded most of the 36 passengers onto a bus, welcomed us at the hotel in downtown Auckland where further paperwork and another health screening were done and then we were sent to our 2 very nice hotel rooms with food arriving at the door.   We will be tested on day 3 and day 11 and have daily health checks.  We cannot leave our rooms except for some brief, organized "walks" that we can sign up for several times a day.  

This is what good government can do. And it makes it even more laughable that Trump is criticizing Jacinda Ardern's government response to Covid given the most recent community outbreak here. 

More soon from the Antipodes!  

Flying the Empty Skies...

 

The pandemic has wreaked havoc on the airline industry (and tourism in general of course) and that was readily apparent last evening when we flew out of San Francisco.  The International Terminal was eerily quiet except for a few travelers and a policeman on a bike practicing his skills by riding through empty ticketing booth lines and "stay 6 feet apart" circles marked on the floor of the terminal.  We arrived extra early for our flight, got some sushi and ramen at one of the few restaurants that was open and we waited for more passengers to show up.  This just didn't happen.  

We boarded the flight and there were a total of 36 people on a plane that usually carries about 300 passengers.  The 4 of us were all seated together during takeoff but there were only about 10 people in our part of the plane and they did allow us to move to empty rows to lay down, as long as we were social distancing and wearing our masks. 

Being the chatty one that I am, I asked one of the flight attendants about how he felt about the flight being so empty. He said, "it's very strange and it is not sustainable. Not sure we will be able to keep doing this much longer".  He reported that this was fairly typical of flights over the last few weeks with an average of about 50 passengers. Sadly there have already been layoffs at Air New Zealand because of the pandemic with more likely to come.

We all slept during the 12.5 hour flight and I slept more than I have ever slept on a long-haul flight.  Mike and I were "reminiscing" about the last time we did this move with a 19 month old who screamed for 2.5 hours on the plane and a relatively calm and easy 4.5 year old.  Traveling with a tween and a teen is damn easy.  They both were stellar yesterday.

More after we settle into quarantine somewhere in NZ.  

Up, Up and Away to the Land of the Long White Cloud

In the last week we have:

• Watched a 40 foot container drive off with all of our stuff, expected to arrive in early October.
• Said goodbye to our 2 kitties, Artemis and Chai, until they can fly to NZ and quarantine in October. M and I had to go over to our dear friend's house to get Chai out of a basement ceiling where she had been hiding for 24 hours.  
• Said good-byes to our Portland peeps and my mom/beloved Oma to my children
• Spent time with my sister, my nephew and his wife and their two kids and helped my sister move while wildfires burned around us.  

That last one seems like a fitting metaphor for our departure from the USA.  I think both Mike and I have been worried about whether something might go horribly wrong as we got closer to our travel date whether that be on a macro level (Trump always brings some kind of fresh hell to each day) or in our own little microcosm.  We had an iPhone go on the fritz (my nephew had a spare one), I made a wrong reservation for a rental car (but remedied that easily), we barely fit everything on the container but..... we are about to board the plane here in San Fran. 

Flying during this pandemic is absolutely eerie.  The international terminal, usually bustling with travelers, is a ghost town.  We are disheartened to hear about a small but notable surge in Covid cases in the Auckland area but still feeling a sense of relief at our decision.  

We will write more from quarantine.  Until then...

 

Winding down and winding up

 

We are leaving in 2 weeks. 

Let me say that a little louder...

WE ARE LEAVING IN 2 WEEKS! 

It’s a strange thing to be winding things down while simultaneously putting our foot on the gas pedal. I had my last day of work yesterday and a nice (socially-distant) gathering with my lovely co-workers. Today I’ve gotten a mammogram (boobies!), detailed one of the cars, called an electrician to put up some lights in our house, helped M pack for a short trip and for her 6-10 weeks without access to her stuff as it is shipped across the Pacific and touched up paint around the house. There is plenty more to do in the next 11 days before we fly to California to spend time with my sister, nephew and his wife and kids. 

I am going to whine a bit now about how hard it is to not be able to freely see friends and family and spend quality time with them before we leave because of the pandemic. We’ve had a small “bubble” of loved ones that we have spent time with but knowing that we won’t be back for a while amplifies the longing to connect with our loved ones. 

And there is the list of things to do. A long list that we are trying our best to plow through. I’m not sleeping well, my gut is a wreck and I’m worried I’m missing or forgetting things but one way or another, we will be on that plane on August 18. 

...And I’m thankful we won’t have to wear masks for much longer. 

2020 Vision: Our Return to New Zealand Is Happening!

It's been a good long while, fair reader, but after much consternation, deliberation and contemplation our fair clan is heading back to our second home!  It seems like a waking dream but it is really happening. We depart San Francisco for Auckland on the night of August 18th, 2020.   

Looking back, this move did not seem remotely inevitable.  We came back to the US in 2012 because of finances.  We came back because of earthquakes and aging family.  All of these issues are still very real but so much has changed in the last year.  M and W are 15 and 12 respectively and their lives, like so many here in the US and around the world, have been profoundly changed by Covid-19.  This issue alone is compelling but add to that the impending election of our lifetimes in November, the continued divisions in our national political fabric and the most dangerous politician since the Second World War and you have the desire for a better life being usurped by necessity.  Each day there is usually a moment that I hold my breath in anticipation of some new low that has been perpetrated by our current occupant of the White House.  Rarely do these moments go unfulfilled.  It's a terrible time in the United States and I doubt we have seen the worst of it.  I wish this were not true but there's no denying that it is.

The decision to leave is difficult.  It feels like cowardice.  It feels like giving up.  It feels like an abrogation of our duties as citizens to leave when sanity needs every last advocate.  To use the language of the day, it feels like white privilege because it is white privilege.  But honestly, I don't see how we CAN'T make this move.  We love New Zealand.  There are so many things about New Zealand that feel like home.  We will miss all of the wonderful things that make living in Portland, Oregon special and of course we will miss our friends, our neighbors and our dear families.  We also live in an era where communication across wide open spaces is so much easier than it was even ten years ago.  We will still "see" our people.  Wish us luck as we may need it and stay tuned for updates as we stumble closer to the rest of our lives.