IT SEEMS COUNTER-INTUITIVE TO BE LEAVING NEW ZEALAND — with fewer than 500 cases of Covid-19 and zero deaths — for America, with the most cases in the world. But that’s what we are doing and we consider ourselves lucky to get out. For starters, New Zealand has instituted restrictions as severe as any in the US. Our health insurance isn’t good here in the event we do get sick. And we have been here for nearly two months already.
Social-Distancing Reaches New Zealand
Christchurch looked like a ghost town this morning — even the drive through at McDonald’s was closed. A few people were out walking and a few more queued up 2 meters apart outside the supermarket. Staying on in New Zealand looks less and less like an option.
Getting out while the Getting's good
Our Christchurch-Auckland flight, which we booked back in January, has been changed once and cancelled this morning. I spent a shaky half-hour on hold before Rajesh, bless his little heart, was able to get us on another that would still make our connection to Honolulu.
Tickets to Ride
About Hawaii, we had booked a cottage for the month of April through AirB&B, long before coronavirus raised its ugly little head. When Honolulu first, then the entire state, declared 14-day self-quarantine, we were still planning on going, especially not knowing how AirB&B would handle cancellations. I was surprised, quite pleasantly, when THEY cancelled our reservation and refunded the entire fee.
Waiting for the Auckland-London flight
I booked a direct, First-Class flight to Denver, figuring they would take better care of us than if we were in coach. That flight, too, was cancelled and we are now on one that connects through LAX. By the way, all of the flights — Christchurch-Auckland, Auckland-Honolulu, Honolulu-LA and LA-Denver take place today, March 28, despite a ten-hour layover in Honolulu. This will be one long bitch of a day — even if it goes according to plan.
