Fire, Flood, Pestilence

President Trump has approved a vaccine 

When we went to the Kiwi conservation enclosure at Whakarewarewa, we discovered that only two people were allowed in to see the kiwis at a time so while we waited to be admitted, we were directed to several information boards on varieties of Kiwis and the Maori connection with them.

Whilst reading the first of those boards, we were approached by an American couple from New Jersey who were similar in age to us and who had been enjoying a similar tour to ours in both Australia and New Zealand.

We had visited almost exactly the same places in both countries and as we spent time in New Jersey in 2016 we had a lot to talk about.

We shared memories of the Australian desert, the Sydney Opera House, Australia Day in Perth, Tasmania, the Whitsundays and our time in South Island which they would be visiting next.

They had also been to Brisbane, Fraser Island and the Daintree Rain Forest which we would have loved to have seen so we enjoyed hearing them talk about their time there.

We were all getting on very well indeed and when we told them we were planning to go back to America's east coast the following year, they didn't hesitate to suggest that we should meet up.

I said that we would have loved that, providing this nasty virus would beat a hasty retreat and soon.

To that they responded in a manner which I didn't at all except.

They retorted in no uncertain terms that there was no mystery virus and no pandemic, there was just a particularly bad strain of flu which would soon be eliminated by their excellent president who had already approved a vaccine for it.

As we had continued to have limited media contact on our travels, my initial reaction to that was amazement followed by relief.

I explained at that point that we had not heard about that vaccine but if, indeed, one had been approved then that would be wonderful news for us all.

Their parting words to us were to continue enjoying our holiday to the full and not to worry at all about any silly virus.

My husband was rather more circumspect than I had been.

He chose not to respond to their suggestion that President Trump had approved a vaccine as no one in New Zealand's parliamentary Question Time just a few days before had even mentioned that a vaccine existed let alone that one had been approved.

My first thought after they were ushered into the kiwi enclosure, was why this vaccine wasn't being distributed in Italy where people were now dying every day of this virus or flu or whatever it was. 

It was all very strange to us; how two very normal, open minded international travellers could be so parochial and quasi nationalistic with regard to this virus.

Of course since that day in early March 2020, everyone everywhere has experienced the phenomena of Covid denial, anti social distancing marches, political leaders reaping benefits and financial gain from the pandemic and ministers and advisers refusing to lead by example in our collective fight against covid.

But that charming American couple telling us that the virus was just a bad strain of flu for which President Trump had already secured a vaccine, is something that will be etched in our memory forever.

Should we stay or should we go?

We checked into our Airbnb accommodation in the Westbrook area of Rotorua at around 6:00 pm.

It was a very clean two room unit with en-suite shower room and the usual kitchen appliances provided for a short stay.

The fridge was well stocked with several breakfast options and we were also provided with a huge bowl of fruit which our landlord said we could take with us when we left the following day.

The most memorable part of this stay was the family cat Timmy who visited us whilst we were there and who kept me company for most of that night whilst I worked, dealt with admin and called our travel insurance providers.

Wifi provision was excellent in this accommodation unit so I spent much of the evening and most of the night working.

We had a break at around 9:30 pm when we went out for a quick meal in central Rotorua.

We returned to the lakeside area we had walked in earlier that day and we found the Craft Bar and Kitchen, a hot stone grill restaurant with heated outdoor seating where the tables appeared to be well separated from others in that area.

We ordered a mixed meat platter which was excellent; we realised as we were eating it that this was the first meat meal we had enjoyed in New Zealand.

Considering New Zealand lamb is recognised as being among the best lamb in the world, it was right that we should try it. 

We were not disappointed

The website claims that :

"You don’t know what flavour is until you’ve tried a cut of meat which is cold-smoked, then served on a sizzling STONEGRILL"

"Some of the best cuts of meat are offered on the 400°C volcanic hot stone grill for you to cook to your liking".

"This is a truly unique way to dine, searing your cut, locking in the nutritional and flavoursome juices, ensuring you get a super tender and sensational tasting meal".

https://www.cbk.nz/

We had never tried a hot stone grill before and we would be unlikely to have the opportunity to try it on 'volcanic hot stones' back in the UK even when we eventually do come out of lockdown, so we were very happy to have had it there.

This restaurant also specialised in excellent craft beers including the Moa brewery ales which we had tasted in Marlborough before our arrival in Wellington.

We treated ourselves to a Moa pale ale whilst we ate but as I would be working that night and my husband would be driving, we only had one each.

Once back at the accommodation I checked my emails again and as I still had not received a reply from either our insurance providers or Vietnam Air, I had no choice but to call them.

When I had called them before after our cancelled flight in Hobart and then again after our cancelled flight to KL from Singapore, they answered immediately and were extremely helpful but on this occasion I was on hold for over 40 minutes. 

It was clear, therefore, that we were not alone in needing to contact them.

When I did eventually manage to speak to someone, they claimed they could offer no advice at all but to make sure that we read the Terms and Conditions of our policy with care prior to making any claims.

I explained that at this point I wasn't making a claim, I just wanted to know what to do.

Should we stay in New Zealand where the Covid situation was relatively under control or should we return to the UK via Australia and Vietnam?

If so how safe would we be considering our age and should we book a flight straight to Hanoi from Sydney as we could no longer fly from Singapore to Malaysia to Hanoi due to border closures?

Their response was strange but I can totally understand now why they responded that way, even though it did not assist us in the least at that time.

They explained that as UK Nationals we should return to the UK and not stay in New Zealand or Australia and that we should return on our original flights and only book new flights when/if those flights were cancelled.

The woman I spoke to even suggested that by the time we were due to travel, Malaysia may well have re-opened its borders and we would probably be able to travel on our original flights from Sydney to Singapore then from Singapore to KL and KL to Hanoi where we would board our Vietnam Air flight to London.

At that time this travel insurance provider was clearly thinking about keeping travel claims low rather than what was in the best interest of the client.

They learnt at great cost to themselves that this was the wrong advice to give us at that time.

We should have been advised to book new flights to London from Sydney as soon as possible after returning to Australia on 10th March.

When I suggested that to them at the time, they did not agree to cover the cost of those flights as our original flight to London had still not been cancelled. 

Not permitting us to re-book flights at that time cost them dearly later.

It would have even cost them less to have approved our staying in New Zealand or Australia in low cost accommodation for up to 6 months rather than insisting on our returning on our original flights and waiting for borders to re-open.

What didn't help at all was the fact that this was the last time we were able to get through to them.

After this call we received no replies to the many emails we sent them nor did they ever answer the phone to us again.

That also cost them dearly in the end as it amounted to negligence and unprofessional behaviour.

To all effects and purposes, we were now stranded on the other side of the world with no idea what to do next.

At that point we still chose to believe the advice we were given and that SE Asian borders may well re-open in a few weeks time, so I left it at that and joined an online meeting with my line manager and other work colleagues in the UK then continued with the backlog of work that I had to catch up on.

Sunday 8 March 2020

Matamata

Our original plan on that day was to drive from Rotorua straight to Auckland where we would be staying for our remaining two nights in New Zealand before flying back to Sydney on 10th March.

As Auckland is by far New Zealand's largest and most international modern city, we felt we needed at least two days there to see everything on our Auckland tourist itinerary.

But that morning, before we checked out of our Rotorua accommodation, we turned on the TV and discovered that there were now 6 confirmed cases of Covid in Auckland with a further 7 or more suspected cases waiting to be tested.

News reports on this were stark and shocking and the advice given was to stay at home or maintain social distancing as much as possible.

Bars, restaurants and shops were advised to close if they could or reduce the number of consumers in store at a time. 

It was also reported that New Zealand borders would be closed on Thursday 12 March, two days after our departure and that foreign tourists should leave the country as soon as possible as a National lockdown was now imminent.

After hearing this we decided not to travel to Auckland that morning  but to find another more remote location where we could spend the day then just get to Auckland for the evening to check into our accommodation.

As it was a glorious sunny day, we thought that a good alternative option would be to go to the Hot Water beach at Coromandel.

At this unique, volcanic area of New Zealand, naturally heated volcanic water bubbles up from deep within the earth to emerge through on the beach where with a bucket and spade you could dig your very spa pool in the sand.

I had been to volcanic beaches many times in southern Italy where you could have hot geothermal  showers from underground springs which beach resorts in volcanic areas had tapped into, but I had never before experienced geothermal activity on the beach itself. 

This would be an amazing experience and that beautiful sunny day was perfect for it.

It would take about two and a half hours to drive there from Rotorua and then a similar amount of time to drive from there to Auckland later so we would have from around 11:00 am until approx 5:00 pm which is longer than we would usually spend on a beach but we were sure we would find an interesting walk somewhere en route as we did when we first left Wellington.

We had been driving for about 40 minutes when we found ourselves in one of the most beautiful country locations we had seen in New Zealand since our arrival.

This was not dramatic Fiordland scenery as it was clearly farmland but it was absolutely stunning.

Gentle rolling hills, grazing farm animals, woodland copses, it was so lovely that we decided we would have to stop and go for a county walk there to appreciate it further.

Not long after we decided to do that we saw a sign welcoming us to Matamata.

We had actually stumbled on the famous Alexander Farm which was used as the Hobbiton film set for the Lord of the Rings trilogy and later the Hobbit..

We could totally understand why of all the places on earth that Peter Jackson visited to created his vision of Hobbiton, he settled on that farm in Matamata.

If ever any farm anywhere could be described as perfect, that was it. 

Even though we were there in late summer when the fields had been charred yellow by the hot New Zealand summer sunshine, it was still absolutely wonderful.

Of course we had to stop and see if we could have a look around or just go for a walk in the beautiful adjoining countryside.

When we parked we noticed that we were not alone.

There were several coaches parked there already as well as a whole carpark full of cars. 

This did cause us some concern as we were trying to keep our distance from others but when we arrived at the ticket office there were very few people there at all.

The organised tours were very well run and as they all took place outside it was very easy to keep your distance from others.

We were told they were fully booked when we first asked for admission to a tour but the kind person at the desk told us to wait half an hour as quite a few people were cancelling pre booked tours as they didn't want to travel with a coach load of strangers for several hours from wherever the tour was setting off from.

We ordered a coffee and settled at a scenic picnic table nearby when just a few minutes later one of the ushers came to inform us that a large group had just cancelled so we would be able to join the tour.

We picked up our tickets, boarded the Hobbiton bus and set off on our extraordinary Lord of the Rings Hobbiton Tour.

Hobbiton 

https://www.hobbitontours.com/en/our-story/

We were a little concerned about our coach trip with other tourists to the starting point of the Hobbiton set tour but we sat at the back on our own where windows on both sides were wide open and in just under 10 minutes we arrived.

During our brief coach journey we were shown a video of a potted history of the Hobbiton film set which we found very interesting and informative.

"In 1998, Sir Peter Jackson’s team of location scouts were searching for the iconic rolling hills and lush green pastures of Hobbiton".

"An aerial search led them to the Alexander farm, a stunning 1,250 acre sheep farm in Matamata in the heart of the Waikato".

"They noted the area’s striking similarity to The Shire as described by JRR Tolkien, and soon realised that the Hobbits had found a home".

"In one particular part of the farm, a magnificent pine tree towered over a nearby lake, adjacent to a rising hill".

"Bag End now sits atop that hill, overlooking the Party Tree, as that pine would later be known".

"The surrounding areas were untouched; no power lines, no buildings and no roads in sight".

"This meant that Sir Peter Jackson could leave the 20th century behind, and fully submerge himself in the fantasy world of Middle-earth".

"In March 1999 the crew began the nine month quest to bring the ideas for Hobbiton to fruition; help was provided by the New Zealand Army, and soon 39 temporary Hobbit Holes were scattered across the 12 acre plot used for the set".

"Secrecy was key, and strict security measures were put in place by the production company throughout construction and filming".

"Filming commenced in December 1999, and it took around three months to get a wrap on The Shire".

"After filming was over, an initial attempt at demolition commenced but 17 bare plywood facades remained".

"These shells would serve as the catalyst that propelled Hobbiton forward into the public eye, with guided tours commencing in 2002".

"In 2009, Sir Peter Jackson returned to film The Hobbit trilogy, and he left behind the beautiful film set we saw that day; 44 permanently reconstructed Hobbit Holes, in the same fantastic detail as seen in all the films".

"In 2012 The Green Dragon Inn was opened as the finale to the journey".

"Guests now finish their Hobbiton Movie Set experience with a refreshing beverage from the Hobbit Southfarthing Range", and very good it was too, in spite of the generous abundance of wasps everywhere all seemingly out to get us.

"There’s certainly a good deal of 'movie magic' nestled inside that fully operational farm".

I had read Lord of the Rings many years ago before any of the films were made but since visiting the Hobbiton set last March, we have now watched the first of the Lord of the Rings trilogy which we thoroughly enjoyed mainly as we not only recognised Hobbiton immediately but also some of the other locations we had travelled to already in New Zealand like Mount Victoria Lookout in Wellington and the Fiordland area of South Island. 

As for the tour itself, I can honestly say that it is one of the most memorable and beautiful walks we had ever been on.

We were certainly not avid fans of the Peter Jackson films before that tour (in fact we hadn't seen any of those films at that time), but you don't need to be to enjoy that tour.

The beautifully watered and maintained gardens and well planted 'rain forest' woodland areas were spectacular as was the glorious sunny weather that we were treated to for that entire day.

It was a wonderful way to spend a day outdoors in when social distancing from other tourists.

Apart from a few minutes in the bus there and back, we spent the entire afternoon walking in those beautiful grounds in glorious isolation.

That day feels like a dream now.

I would return there in a heartbeat immediately if I could not least to reassure myself that such a beautiful place really does exist and that we didn't just imagine it.