 It was suddenly and finally announced
that NZ border will be open in February for NZers and in April for All travelers. That was the biggest piece of news all year! Last year's was shutting the border of course. I already submitted planned leave at work.😛  Something hit me:
There are some unique things that set this current 'virus' apart from the rest, and this may be the key to help rewakening some zombiefied brains even if only just a little bit: Ask yourself this -- Which vaccine you have ever had to take in your life: 1) was NOT for a permanent effect, 2) for a problem that statistically is not at all life-threatening for over 95% of the world population, 3) and you have to get the vaccine every 6 months, 4) so that you can renew your 'vaccine pass' 5) so that you can go to places like restaurants, hairdresses and - TRAVEL domestically & overseas 6) if you don't have the pass, or a valid one, you won't be allowed to live your life normally Think.  I won't rather be stuck in NZ,
or ANY where... Even if it's Costa Rica. A few friends have been writing me messages with similar sentiments: "you're lucky you're in NZ", "I'd rather be stuck in NZ" "At least you're in NZ" Come On... What are you trying to express by saying things like this... I'm in no way ungrateful for the life I have in NZ. I'm beyond gratified for the beauty of NZ landscape as well. It's a small country that is easy to travel. We have had periods of former normality, that allowed us the freedom to roam. So, if you are actually jealous of me being stuck in NZ as an avid traveler, Why don't you come do a 2-week MIQ, pay for the whole thing, and stay stuck here for 3 years here, experience what it feels like? Then tell me whether you still rather be stuck here in NZ. Those who say that to me are often ones that have the freedom to travel, and live in countries that do not have strict restrictions as we do in NZ. Now, everything has been up a level in NZ. Whether it's the actual restriction level itself, or the requirement for masks everywhere, or the requirement for vacc. for most people. "No jab, no job" "Mandated" "Scan" "Mask on" "Vaxx Pass" The world in front of me is changing slowly but surely in front of my eyes. People appear to be oblivious/totally okay with the gradual ramping up of control measures. But if anyone still have any intuition left, they can just sense what more this is leading towards. I certainly notice a big difference when out and about in the city: it is hard to see more than a handful of people who don't have a mask over their faces. Can you imagine the children of this generation growing up never seeing people's faces? On the phone whenever they sit down, back on the computer to play games when they get home? What kind of human beings are they going to be? To what extent will they still have any humanity left in them? Will they help an old lady cross the street if she doesn't have any mask on? Will we one day even be able to tell A.I. robots from people? Because EVERY one every THING has a mask on. & One has to get a booster jab every six months in order to keep the certificate renewed. We are becoming like our vehicles...! A WOF check every 6 months. Don't people see how the measures are just being pushed up a little bit at a time? How are people even OKAY with this? All the wrongs arei n plain sight, but people go by their lives with their eyes blindfolded to the heart's true feelings. It's World War Z as you realise it. It's a Zombie-ing of the mind. Can't we just sit on the lawn of an open field, go to the forest, and hang out? How can traveling be so difficult? - when traveling itself should be the epitome of freedom itself. To not be able to travel for eager travelers is like for a runner to not even be able to walk. Like a paralysed vegetable on a hospital bed. Good luck with all your dreams and aspirations of winning a medal. I used to measure matters by whether it's a First World Problem or not. These days, none of what's related to C-vid is even a First World Problem anymore. It is a GLOBAL problem. Yes, for those of us who have everything they need in NZ, we're so damn lucky. But no, none of this is OKAY. Not for me.  M. is currently at 105+. M. traveled in over 20+~30 countries in the past 2 years despite COVID. I'm SO happy for him.  T. is now on 70. 30+ since we met. SO awesome. New Zealand's border will not open until after mid-2022.
It is crazy to think about the implication of this for those who have families overseas. For those of us who have families in our home countries, this is a difficult time to stay so far apart for so long. I myself do not know when I will get to see my grandparents and whether I will ever get to again. For keen travelers such as myself, this is particularly difficult. My soul dies on the inside knowing how long it has been, and how much longer it will be still, when I get to travel to new countries again. It is frustrating for me to recognise how many new countries some of my traveler acquaintances have been since we last met, and how I've been on a stand-still. Not that it is a competition in anyway, it just boggles my mind the lack of experience I have had in the past 2 years... How little growth I have made in myself, the kind of rapid growth you only get when you travel in new countries. Every trip was a massive self-discovery and revelation, a huge learning curve about a different place, a different world, and learning about new friends and their ways of perceiving the world. I have been deprived of all of that for 2 years now. That's what bothers me the most.  When you visit Cathedral Cove & Hahei, Don't miss out on a really cool little spot, We came upon it completely by chance when driving around, It's the Cathedral Cove Macadamia Shop. The sound of the macadamia nuts cracking was so musical, it was actually an experience in itself. There is a variety of macadamia nuts products available, chat with the store owner and she'll tell you all about them. ^_^ To find the place, on Google Maps, it's called "'Cathedral Cove Macadamias"   St Andrews, Presbyterian church on Rings Road, Coromandel Town Something about churches always draws me to them.
Perhaps it’s the reverence of people to seek for God. Perhaps that humility and childlike desire are innate qualities in humans. The search for God, the need for salvation, and the thirst for eternal life. Perhaps most people would choose eternal life if they were ever given the opportunity to have it. Perhaps even that want of eternity is innate in us. I’ve never been attracted to the interiors of churches, neither the opulence nor the murals or stained glass have drawn my fancy, they represent vanity and wastefulness to me, sometimes it feels overboard. It’s the simple humble churches that do it for me, like the pure white ones of Niuean’s. Because it’s what take place inside that matter, and what people take away from their worship. If they can manifest humility and act in benevolence after church, live with love in their hearts, and appreciate every little thing & moment, that’s the point of it all of churches, isn't it  It wasn't until I arrived back in Tauranga did I realised that I had long left a piece of my heart in Tauranga. I still know how to drive to Bethlahem from Tauaranga city centre, then cross that bridge, over the river where people would "walk on water", turn left after the bridge, then right, to go uphill on 80k on a countryroad. I drove without a map or GPS back then, and just knew the way by heart. So I still remember that route still.  I caught up with my now former-coworker. He had to move here despite most of his work can be done remotely. Technically he could be a digital nomad and travel as he works, but the job had required him to move here and be present in case of crisis might occur. This is 12-month contract for him, and he very much would like to move back to Wellington, where there are more jobs and to him a better lifestyle. His fiance was watching her cats on their bed back in Wellington, she said to me she missed them a lot.  For me,
Tauranga has always been my favourite place on Te Ika Maui. I'd move here if I had the opportunity and the right circumstances to do so. I do love Tauranga. The climate, the ocean, the marshland, the mount, Even just the fact that there is a town called Bethlahem, and the close-knit family culture here that I have witnessed, and all the kiwifruits and avocados. |
