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The Outside World!

Happy 4th of July! So, some of the pillars of kiwi life look like this: food, footy (rugby), frost (winter!) and whānau. Opportunities for catching up with whānau is definitely the main focus for being home, so a random visit from my cousin and his family, who live about 3 hours away is not out of the realms of normal... Today's classic afternoon tea - complete with the Nana cup! Not quite the mug of tea I'm used but at least there is a pot so I could keep refilling. Winter garden looking pretty healthy! Whānau (family) means everything in kiwi life - close family, extended family, even non-blood family all comes under the whānau umbrella. So, when my cousin said he was bringing his whānau for the weekend, it sounded like a great idea!   We spent a lot of time sitting around drinking cups of tea and yakking - 2 days in a row!  My mum and his mum...what a special time having us all in one place. Frozen lawn syndrome - very chilly...
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Day 14 - THE day!

  Day 14 - 1 July Temp: 44° Walk time - NO walk time cos today is THE day! Departure time 1:30 - up at 7am!  Ok..so now everything's done and it's....10:07am! So...what to do...listen to a little Gladys Knight (no Pips)...a little Johnny Cash....some Frankie Valli...obviously my Apple music still works fine here...maybe put all the stuff on the bed into the actual bag!  Don't want to rush around too much. It is a beautiful day in Christchurch - and certainly a GREAT day to fly!  Reflecting on my MIQ stay, I have to say it hasn't been difficult.  Surely any issue is a true first world problem...occasional blip with the wifi (at least 2 mins one time!)...I think lunch was 10 minutes late one time...see what I mean, first world problem!  The only real setback was shortening my time out in the world to spend with Mum and whānau and friends, but hey it's more time than I had last year (thanks so much COVID!).  In a few hours I'll be out in the (...
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Day 13 - the final countdown!

Day 13 - June 30th Temp 47° this morning! Walk time - 9:00a.m. Last full day in lock up! The 9 o'clock walk was perfect - considering yesterday was some sort of polar express.  Took the full 45 minutes, just cos I could.  Flights etc are finally worked out and in place for tomorrow - 3pm flight to Auckland, followed by a 5:50 flight to Hastings, and I will finally get to Mum's about 7:30 tomorrow night.  What a trip it's been - and I haven't even been anywhere yet!   Maori New Year! Food continues to be awesome!  We have not had the same lunch or dinner twice since we have been here, and what a great variety there has been!
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Day 12 - Polar Express arrived!

  Day 12 - June 29 Temp - feels like is 36° right now, but the temp is 44° Walk time - 2:35 - it'll be windy and freezing!! Day 12 means the final COVID swab up the nose this morning.  No worries that it'll come back negative, so this is just another brick in the wall (very Pink Floyd!).  Two people in one of the Auckland hotels tested positive on Day 12 (!) so that has extended the stay for everyone at that hotel!  What a horrendous option THAT would be!  Anxious to avoid that... Update: Escape time got moved to 1:30pm instead of 5:30am.  All good for a sleep in but it buggared up the flight I had booked for 8:50am to Hastings.  Lots of fiddling around today trying to coordinate with the Wellness team and Air NZ to figure out what to do next.  Finally, managed to get on the flight back to Auckland where they fly us all back to to start over (Ithink).  Booked a flight from there to Hastings, so should have this all sorted by 7pm T...
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Day 11 - an Antarctic blast!

Day 11 - June 28 Temp - 40° (ish) It's a 2-walk day (see schedule attached!).  Easy to see the teacher in me coming out, by the yellow highlighter on the times!  Hey, this is important stuff people!  This is the schedule we get for walking times every day - and there's nothing better than a 2-walk day!  Polar blast moving in today...5 o'clock walk was down to just 3 people (staunch outside people!).  Was definitely a 'gloves required' event but still very do-able.
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Day 10 - The downhill slide...

Sunday, June 27 Temp - 45° this morning but 53° currently (2:25pm) Walk time - 9:00a.m. Can you believe I have only 3 days left in confinement?? Me neither! Who knew that time could really fly when you are doing nothing!  Anyway, one more COVID test on Day 12 and exiting the facility on Thursday at 5:32 a.m. - not sure what the plan is for that yet but should find out fairly soon. Today is a Sunday kind of day (mostly cos it's Sunday!), so I am letting myself have a Sunday day. Very foggy walk this morning - jacket required for a bit.  Fog and mist have been rolling in and out this morning, but we appear to have blue sky right now.  However, it's still an inside day (like I have an option?).  Watched the Grand Ole Opry, live, which was great...currently watching a Netflix series called Sweet Tooth. Heads up if you are a Netflixer, this is a great one to binge.  Matter of fact, I was up after 11pm last night doing just that! Part of breakfast this morning...
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Day 9 - Just another manic Saturday!

Saturday, June Temp: 50° - great day! Walk time - 9a.m. AND 4:55p.m. - it's a two walk day! Second weekend in captivity! Yay me!  Big celebration though cos it's a 2-walk day!  Two different sessions so I took full advantage of both! Temperature was great - jersey weather but no jacket. Looks like we're back to just one walk tomorrow though (😒). Spending plenty of time yakking on Facetime.  Cheers to all the people who have called for a chat to help pass the time! Night walking! A separate celebration was the return of the laundry (the process works!).  All back, nicely folded but there may have been an iron needed on the t-shirts - no wrinkles thanks! Brekky - gotta love the bacon and egg pie! Lunch! Welcome to my lounge!
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