Lockdown 12/28 – Move On

Day 12 of my diary of a LOTR Fan Museum owner during our 4 week national lockdown - in NZ we’re uniting as a country to beat Covid-19 to break the chain and save lives, but …

Going out on permitted activity is part of the new job to STAY HOME, be kind. Sometimes it’s the highlight of a day.

My beloved and I have a regular local bike ride, which is about 20km clockwise round a local peninsula. I think it must be the most beautiful ride in the world. There are constant views of Wellington’s lovely harbour then the rugged South coast. Usually not too much traffic but currently almost none. (And, I won’t even mention that it goes past PJ’s house!)

We usually ride together and stop to rest and enjoy the view at Seatoun Beach, where we can look across the harbour to the hills. The specific view from our seat is looking up the Hutt River valley (the Hutt was used to film some scenes of the great river Anduin). I was lucky enough to find a cool painting at a church fair of the exact same view!. Spooky! I met the artist, and she subsequently painted me a second pic from a slightly different angle. I joked with her that the people on the beach ought to be in flouro cycling gear!

We’re currently riding separately. Not social distancing, but to take turns on our sole e-bike, Brego. (P usually rides a non-e bike, but has pulled a leg muscle.)

Last week riding, I stopped to try to take a pic of Steeple Rock (part of the reef at the entrance to Wellington harbour). It had a cute steeple-shaped cloud hat on top - but I just missed it in the photo.

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day. Out on his ride, Pete sat on our seat for a brief rest. The Police were there and asked him to “move on”. No-one was allowed to stop. Today on my ride, the Police launch was patrolling the beach. I didn’t stop. Lucky we have the paintings to sit and contemplate the view.

But, thank goodness we can get outside and ride and walk. The lockdown would be so much harder without it. With tighter rules about permitted exercise and new vigilance, I hope we keep managing to find the right balance between being able to “breathe” without compromising the lockdown.

I wish all of you enduring the challenges of this virus had such a lovely place to exercise as us. That said, I am learning a lot about how much beauty there is right outside most people’s homes in a lovely Facebook group called “View from my window”. Magic. Best wishes, Kathy