A week-long series of lockdown life in the regions. Today: the Bay of Islands
My lockdown life is blissfully tranquil. I have rented a mooring for a few months in a bay in Russell. Ten minutes row and a 15 minute walk takes me into the village. There's a large Four Square, recently rebuilt and extended, where you can buy most things - except for when they were stripped bare by Aucklanders.
Northlanders were shocked to be told on Friday that we’d be locked down for a further fortnight. I’d say there’s quite a lot of resentment towards the considerable number of self-centred and entitled Aucklanders who continued to come up here for several days after the lockdown commenced so that they could spend it in their holiday home. The amount of lights in the village at night make it look more like Christmas than the end of winter; and there are many strange faces wandering round. It’s galling to know people were still driving up here several days after lockdown was announced. It's probably why we’ve had ours extended, and I think a lot of people feel that we are being locked down longer because of AWOL Aucklanders stopping in Warkworth on their way to Northland. I believe the police have finally set up checkpoints.
I'd been to visit friends in Nelson and arrived back in Russell half an hour before the lockdown was announced. It had been raining and was almost dark when I got back. It would have meant I had to walk to the bay where my boat is moored and take the dinghy quite a distance to launch her but it seemed too much like hard work with my bags so I went and stayed with a friend in town for the night - we're now in the same bubble. The next day was fine and sunny, so it went well.
Library books on my e-reader, physical books onboard, odd jobs around the boat, along with cooking and baking bread, keep me busy. I go ashore every other day, for the row, the walk and to check on my friend who is 75, unless the wind is strong out of the SW, in which case the bay gets a bit rough for me and my five-foot dinghy. The only fly in my ointment is that we are not allowed to sail "in case we get into trouble and need help". In which case, why are people allowed to drive?
I was going to go to fill up with water when I got back from Nelson, but as I sail to an anchorage near a DOC camp-site on a nearby island to do so, I fear this will be frowned on. I have 30 litres left: 10 days’ supply, so I took two 10 litre containers up to my friend today to fill up. She kindly drove me back.
I've been reading Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake. Who would have thought you could get excited about mycorrhizal fungi? This was an absolutely fascinating book - especially for a nature nut like me. One of my own convictions is that the "Nature red in tooth and claw" concept of evolution is nonsense. I have always thought there is a lot more co-operation than competition. Indeed, I've felt that our attitudes to evolution have been shaped by the fact that the process was elucidated in a strongly capitalist society. I was pleased to see I am not alone in this conviction. Fungi are intensely symbiotic organisms.
I've also been reading the 1920s novels in the Queen Lucia/Miss Mapp series by EF Benson for pure escapism, and as an antidote to the 21st century. In the publisher's description, "The books revolve around two forceful and irrepressible women who dominate their respective villages in southern England and who end up hilariously at war with each other." Having not lived in a house for over 45 years, I'm not sure if small bourgeois communities are still like this. It's truly wonderful that people can live such petty, spiteful, trivial lives, so concerned about their relative status and so smugly complacent. Like the best of parody, the books contain more than a grain of truth. And leave me feeling smugly complacent about my very different life.
Another book on the go is Solitary Journey by Charles Violet, his account of how he single-handedly took his 20 ft boat (which had already crossed the Atlantic twice) through the rivers and canals of France and around the Med on a 13-month voyage in the early 1950s. Really you have to be a sailor to read between the lines and discover that he is an excellent seaman and came through his difficulties and bad weather due to his abilities and intelligence. Instead of exaggerating the wind strength, which is what most people do, everything is understated. I dislike boastful people!
To be honest, I'm a bit of a hermit at the best of times and I rather like to have a good excuse for being anti-social. Normally I live at anchor in secluded bays, choosing my time to go somewhere with more people, and seek out company. I tend to get peopled out in Russell so lockdown means I can enjoy having conveniences to hand without having to be social.
We're pretty much trapped here while Auckland is locked down, but people were looking forward to seeing family and friends again. Most people accept lockdown as long as everyone plays by the rules, which means that Aucklanders should have stayed at their principal residence. Northland still has far too many unvaccinated Māori and old people to be able to tolerate the risk of the Delta variation being introduced by some people’s selfish actions.
Tomorrow: lockdown life in Granity.
