It's a week of swimming and settling back into Christchurch...unpacking and tidying up the house and garden. Not to mention, processing apricots. Preserving, making apricot marmalade and chutney. I find one of Lionel's bank cards in a box of preserving rings, lost ages ago. It's slipped into a crevice and reminds me of summers past when I used to take Lionel on drives to pick apricots then preserve them. He would sit at the table and cut them in half with his curled, arthritic fingers. Having worked hard all his life he loved doing something useful. I also clean up the kitchen where nothing has moved for two weeks, except mold. Not sure what Kahu cooks when I'm not here, very little, as the few dishes I left are still here.
Amana and I go to Sparks in the Park. I wonder if it will the last big event for a while; Omicron's out of the bag. Still feels unreal and far away, but that's an illusion. It's not relevant but very relevant. Sunday afternoon in Cathderal Square at the Old Government Buildings bar and town is eerily quiet. Folks are staying home.
I go on peer support camp for the first time. I assume it will be cruisy but it turns out work intensive. The kids are excited and happy to be together and it's a good vibe. I find out I've got a Year 9 form class, an extension class who I will teach. I haven't had an extension class in over ten years, lack of confidence from the HOD but the new one is different. She's seen my teaching for two years and is much fairer. Extension kids are easy and fun to teach because they're smart. I have cruisy peer support leaders but I wish one of them had artistic talent....my tree banner could do with clearer lines. They dab paint on like kids at kindergarten. My challenge is the night line walk and I concentrate on not being scared. I've got a blindfold on anyway. I get to the end without freaking out.
Meanwhile Nic and I put an offer in on a house in Alex. There's paperwork and more paperwork. And I have to do it from camp. In the end we have competition from another buyer and put a low offer in knowing it won't be accepted. It's disappointing but we've made a start. We've been through the process, except for organising funds. Another exercise in paperwork which it feels like climbing a mountain. The government has restricted lending to make it harder to get a mortgage. But the horse has bolted in Aotearoa as there are not enough houses to go round and lots of people are returning from overseas because of Covid, cashed up. Prices have gone up about 7% in the last year which means we've gone backwards after selling the family home. It's dispiriting. Must be depressing for people trying to save a deposit and applying for higher and higher mortgages with interest rates going up and banks less willing to lend money. Nic and I are in the privileged position of owning houses but want somewhere to go in a place, Central Otago, which feels like home.
27th Januaary
Cases and vaccinations
There are 45 new community Covid-19 cases, and 90 Omicron cases in total to date, officials have reported.
The 45 new community cases (both Omicron and Delta) were in Auckland (22), Waikato (two), Bay of Plenty (three), Lakes (seven), Taranaki (one), Hawke’s Bay (eight), Nelson Marlborough (two).
READ MORE:
* Covid-19: Lotus-Heart restaurant fined another $24,000 for continued breaches
* Man arrested moments after release from managed isolation facility in Christchurch
* Covid-19: Modelling shows 65,000 Omicron cases could hit Wellington over 3 months
* Covid-19: Locations of interest in the Omicron and Delta outbreaks – January 27
* Four new community cases of Covid-19 in Christchurch
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