It Continues

Tuesday 17 August 2021

Things are about to change and we are unaware. All plans for the next several months are about to be wrecked and we don’t know yet. Life is about to be turned on its head. This is the day I have been dreading. This is the start of Covid Stage 2. We are having our last day of the false freedom and we have no idea what is about to unfold.

I do my usual supermarket shopping and my errands in Pukekohe. I have books waiting for me in the library but I decide not to collect them today; I will get them on Thursday when I am next in Pukekohe. (ha ha ha – silly move.)

During the afternoon there is ‘breaking news’ that a ‘case’ has been discovered in the community. A guy who lives in Devonport and has visited Coromandel recently has symptoms and is tested positive for Covid. I am not at all worried. Why the fuss for one guy?

At 6 pm when the shops are all shut, Ardern gives a press conference to say that the country is going to Level Four immediately. Auckland to be in Level Four for a week and the rest of the country for three days. People have 48 hours to get home. It’s going to be a ‘short, hard lockdown’ to knock it on the head.

Shortly after this announcement we get a Civil Defence hooter alarm on our phones, with a loud voice declaring an emergency and warning us that the country goes into Level Four lockdown at 11.59pm. The scary message is just that – scary. And unnecessary.

Wednesday 19 August 2021

First day of this lockdown – Level Four. Masks become mandatory when accessing essential services.

Level Four lockdown means that everyone must stay at home except to walk round the block for exercise or go to the supermarket to buy food. If you do step out to exercise or get food you are supposed to keep a record of where you went and at what time by either using your phone to scan a QR code which is outside every business building by law, or by writing down your details on a sheet of paper provided by the businesses.

No butchers, no small food shops, no greengrocers, no delis open. No takeaways. No ordering online. No shops of any kind open. All libraries, gyms, dentists, physiotherapists, schools and universities totally closed. Absolutely everything is closed. No fishing, no swimming, no off-road cycling, no sports like golf or skiing. No weddings, no funerals. Nothing allowed. Meanwhile we have suicides, two murders in one day, domestic violence, mental health problems. The police are out in force though. Someone is actually arrested for not wearing a mask.

All public toilets are locked and petrol filling stations are not allowed to sell any food. So truck drivers, driving the length of New Zealand to deliver goods can’t go to the toilet or buy something to eat or find somewhere to sleep. Some supermarkets are closing because the staff are having to ‘self-isolate’ and there is no one to work. Hospitals the same. Even Parliament is closed.

Friday 20 August 2021

Level Four for the rest of the country has been extended until next Tuesday. Three ‘cases’ have been found in Wellington.

Monday 23 August 2021

Level Four extended for Auckland until next Tuesday and for the rest of the country until Friday.

Friday 27 August 2021

Talk of Level Four continuing for another fortnight after next Tuesday’s deadline. This is hard to hear.

Sunday 29 August 2021

A’s third birthday. Her second birthday spent in lockdown.

Monday 30 August 2021

Level Four extended for another fortnight. This will make it a minimum of four weeks locked up completely and no social, no events, no shopping, no medical care. I am feeling very unhappy about this, people generally are not happy. But the media keep on rolling out these same few talking heads who waffle on about how dangerous the Delta Strain of the Covid is and how the lockdown must be continually extended.

Tuesday 7 September 2021

We complete a third week being locked up. Day to day, we are trying to stay cheerful. I am thankful that our ‘bubble’ is so big. And we have been able to get some sorting and tidying done. Each week I have tried to do something special – a special grownups dinner, each of the children being invited for dinner by themselves, one at a time.

A lot of people are so afraid of Covid that they truly believe they will catch Covid if they come within ten metres of another human being, and if they catch Covid they will definitely die– it’s crazy. It’s looking very clear to anyone with an ounce of nous that at some stage the world is going to have to learn to live with Covid – get on with life and *live*. At the moment in NZ, a sizeable proportion of the population is so afraid of death that they’re afraid to live.

One Rule for the Mates and Another Rule for the Rest of Us

Thursday 9 September 2021

Level Four lockdown is very tough. No leaving your house, no meeting up with anyone, and don’t even talk to your neighbours. Ardern says explicitly ‘Stay local, do not congregate, do not talk to your neighbours,’ Yep, that’s right. Don’t talk to your neighbours.

Siouxie Wiles makes a little video and puts it on YouTube to tell everyone what Level Four means. She emphasises the importance of staying in your own bubble, wearing a mask as soon as you leave the house, and not doing forbidden things like swimming or going to the beach or parks unless you live next door to the beach or park. An article on the RNZ website on 18 August reads: ‘Please don’t go out and chat with a friend while you are out,’ Wiles said. ‘Don’t hang around and have a chat, connect in other ways. We’ve got phones, we’ve got Skype, we’ve got Zoom…we need to physically disconnect for a little while,’ she said. ‘Stay away from people.’

However, on 3 September, dear old Siouxie gets filmed sitting very close to her mate on the beach, five km from her home, neither of them are wearing a mask. Then the friend has a little swim. This comes to public attention on 9 September.

What makes it worse is that after being called out for breaking the rules, she sends a text to Bloomfield to warn him that she has been found out, and he encourages her not to worry. Wiles is not ‘spoken to by police,’ or arrested, or threatened with prosecution, as others have been. In fact, both Ardern and Bloomfield defend her. Shocking.

When the Leader of the Opposition calls out Wiles as a hypocrite, calling her a ‘big fat liar’ the Leader of the Opposition is attacked in MSM for her choice of words. Probably because Siouxie Wiles is all three: she is big, she is fat and she is a liar.

Funnily enough, Wiles has so much faith in masks (for everyone else) that on 7 September she says that even in Level Two you should wear a mask because ‘It depends on where the wind is blowing you could have a gust of wind that if someone infected blows it to you or if you were infected blows it to someone else… For the good of everybody, wearing a mask when you’re out of your home is a good idea.’ This from the person who didn’t wear a mask at Level Four.

Friday 10 September 2021

The talk is continually about the importance of getting vaccinated. How you must get vaccinated to protect your whanau and community. I thought a vaccine protected the person. So if I wear a raincoat, does that keep my whanau and community dry? I don’t think so.

We currently have the lowest vaccination rate in the OECD and while other countries are opening up we are now locked up indefinitely. The border will stay closed until 2022. The only way into NZ is if you can get a spot in MIQ which is a fortnight locked in a hotel and three covid tests. There are very few spots to be had and the queue is months long with no space before Christmas now. On the other hand, if you are rich and/or famous then you can come in. It’s corrupt.

Ardern is vain, incompetent, secretive and not bright. Some people voted for her because she has a nice smile. They have admitted it! International media are now starting to say zero Covid will never work. But local media don’t question Ardern because she has paid them $55 million dollars plus many more millions in ‘advertising’ and that money will stop if they make it too hard for her with their questions.

Monday 13 September 2021

Another week of Level Four is announced. This is a blow and a disappointment to Auckland Region. It’s very hard. It’s also a bitter pill to swallow to hear the rest of the country complaining that they are still at Level Two. Aucklanders are thinking ‘if only’ about Level Two. They also blame Aucklanders for breaking lockdown and keeping the number of ‘cases’ up. Aucklanders are struggling, but they are still keeping the rules, even though they hate them.

More talk of vaccines. Lots of pressure and ‘encouragement’ to get the jab.

Click and Collect

Monday 20 September 2021

After five weeks at Level Four we hear the welcome news that on 23 September Auckland Region moves to Level Three which means we can have some takeaways and ‘click and collect’

Everyone I know has got a sad story to tell of what this strict lockdown is costing them. And still, the Government truly believes that they can keep covid out of NZ forever. And they are going ahead with this policy no matter what the cost and no matter how long it takes. Although people are starting to mutter, on the whole, New Zealanders are compliant.

We hear nothing about how to increase your level of immunity or how to stay healthy. The word ‘health’ has never come out of any mouth of anyone standing on the ‘podium of truth’. The ‘podium of truth’ is a nickname given for the podium in Parliament’s theatrette where Ardern and Bloomfield come to give their daily updates and self-congratulatory speeches. Ardern says that this is the only place where you will hear the truth, and the only place you can trust for the truth. Anything said contrary to what she says is ‘mis-information’.

Wednesday 29 September 2021

Continual talk about the importance of getting the vaccine. It’s so bad that no-one in the mainstream media says a word in support of being allowed to choose the vaccination. Rather, they insist on vaccination for everyone. People who want to choose and who choose against the jab are called ‘anti-vaxxers’ and worse. They are insulted, scoffed at and humiliated.

In countries around the world I see that those countries where vaccination rates are high are still getting lots of Covid cases. They are now saying that you need a third shot. This is called a ‘booster shot’. So two shots didn’t work but three will work?

The Government pushes through a law change giving themselves the power to delay local elections through to 2023. They blame Covid.

I have never seen New Zealand so unhappy and stressed. I have never seen the country so divided. And Ardern is dividing the country in many ways: Auckland vs rest of country; jabbed vs unjabbed; Maori vs non-Maori; old vs young; city vs country; uber-rich vs the great unwashed, employee vs employer; worker vs beneficiary, landlord vs tenant; home owner vs renter. It’s horrible.

Friday 1 October 2021

Things are moving fast. The Premier of NSW resigns. She has been pushing very hard for the jab.

The ACT party finally comes out and speaks about ‘harm minimisation’. But they still think that vaccination is the solution.

Lots of new local social media groups are being set up by those opposing the Government lockdown and forced vaccination policies. Some people are getting frightened of what the Government will do next and how their freedoms are being threatened. There is a lot of talk about vaccine passports.

Alternative social media are reporting protests all over Europe and USA against the vaccine passports. Nothing is ever mentioned in MSM. A million people march in London. There is not a whisper of it in the media.

Melbourne is suffering terribly from a long harsh lockdown. I see videos of vicious riot police attacking people walking peacefully along the road. For example, a woman reportedly seventy years old is knocked down and then, while she is lying helpless on the ground, she is sprayed in the face with pepper spray by a burly policeman in riot gear. There are so many of these videos that people have taken on their phones and nothing is ever talked about or shown on MSM.

Absolutely everyone in the media insists that everyone must get vaccinated ASAP. Talkback radio hosts won’t let anyone speak who questions the vaccine efficacy or safety; people just get cut off.

All the while that this is going on the Government is pushing through bills under urgency which take away democratic rights of New Zealanders. Things are not looking good.

Saturday 2 October 2021

Even though we are in Level Three lockdown, Brian Tamaki organises a protest family picnic in Auckland Domain. There is a big turnout. Some say one thousand people, some say two or three thousand people. They are from all walks of life from gang members to grannies. Police are there but no arrests are made. Everyone is calm and peaceful. People are keeping some distance between themselves and others. Some wear masks and some don’t.

Brian Tamaki has discussed things with the police during the week before the picnic. Everything seems calm and orderly.

But Brian Tamaki is hated by the media and they whip up a storm of hate against him in their articles and opinion pieces. More to come on this story.

Vaccination centres are offering free food, coffee, takeaways, prizes and cash to people to come and get vaccinated.