Covid-19 had caused job losses and destroyed entire industries, New Zealand had recently emerged from a nationwide lockdown and scandals were plaguing the National Party.
For areas of the South that have tended to be overwhelmingly "true blue" we figured that would be cause for concern.
But a surprising and impressive amount of positivity and resilience soon became apparent.
Arriving in Ranfurly late on a Monday morning, we are immediately taken by how busy it is.
Rugged-up tourists clutching Jimmy’s Pies wander past farmers in dusty white utes.
Cafes are humming, if not hectic.
But in many ways, it also felt like a town where time stood still: Art Deco buildings line the main street and a large sign directs travellers to the enigmatically named Curiosity Shoppe. Another sign advertises Kodak Film.
The "capital" of the Maniototo is perhaps unsurprisingly a National stronghold.
Ranfurly is in the Waitaki electorate where MP Jacqui Dean was re-elected with a 12,816-vote majority over Labour’s Zelie Allan in 2017. At the Maniototo Community Library polling booth, National received 69.3% of the party vote.
Across the road from the town’s prominent railway station, now mostly frequented by cyclists doing the Otago Central Rail Trail, Maniototo Four Square owner Michelle Grundy, who with her husband, Martin, ditched the Auckland rat race for Central Otago nine years ago, is busy at her shop.
Since they bought the supermarket and added a cafe, it has become a community hub.
The importance of that tightly knit community became all too clear during the Covid-19 outbreak, when the supermarket became an essential service, Mrs Grundy said.
Luckily, given the rural nature of the town, it had been pretty well insulated from the worst of the economic impacts.
Domestic tourism had picked up enough to help get the nearby Naseby Indoor Curling Rink back open.
It was not all roses though.
A petition had started circulating in town to encourage the Government to increase support for the travel industry, and travel agents in particular.
"That’s a whole industry that’s been left, really, because they’ve got no income coming in at all.
"It’s pretty tragic really, because they do such a good job.
There was also consternation among some farmers about new water quality rules, she believed, and when it came to Covid, there was real anger about people being able to break out of quarantine facilities.
"Were feeling quite safe up here, we've got a great wee bubble.
"Its a pretty good part of the world to be at the moment".
She and her husband, Alan, felt the Government had handled the outbreak well, and wanted it to be given the chance to continue that work, she said.
Enjoying a pie in the sun outside the Fantail Kitchen & Larder, locals Tanya and Dave Newman also thought Covid had been handled well by the Government.
"We’ve done pretty well, globally the situation is out of control. If that got here it would have been devastating, Mrs Newman said.
"Its tough for people losing their jobs."
Bidding Ranfurly farewell, we headed back towards towards the coast.
The idea of visiting the seaside village when hordes of tourists were not around was a selfishly enticing prospect.
It was not the ghost town that we had expected, decimated by the international tourism tap being suddenly turned off.
In fact, business is booming.
People wandered along the shore, visiting local hospitality haunts and driving along the narrow road that hugs the side of the coast.
Moeraki Tavern co-owner, the aptly named Stewart Beach, was busy behind the bar as punters enjoyed the late afternoon sun.
Business was tracking up on the same time last year, he said.
"New Zealanders are definitely getting out and about. Were doing fine. But we’re just a small fish in a very big pond.
The next few months would be telling, he believed.
Obviously in the middle of the school holidays, more people would be travelling.
Those spoken to were realistic about the fact the boom could turn to bust over the next few months.
In both towns, a couple of points stood out.
Firstly, people seemed generally pretty happy with the way the Government handled the Covid-19 outbreak.
Not a single grumble was heard about the initial response, although the more recent break-outs from quarantine facilities were causing concern.
Secondly, nobody mentioned then-National leader Todd Muller.
In long-held safe blue patches, while talking about the election, the fact the then Opposition leader’s name did not come up seemed odd.
As it turned out, by the time the we sat down for breakfast in Oamaru the next morning that point would become moot.
• Check Wednesday’s Otago Daily Times for the next instalment of About the South.
