In the fortnight prior to my Friday night bar crawl, the impact of Omicron’s arrival in Queenstown was evident.
The virus ripped through bars and restaurants, decimating staffing levels and forcing many to close doors for several days.
But at 7pm on Friday, a few hours after the country moved to Phase 3 of the Omicron response, it was hard to find a place to sit outside and enjoy a drink on a balmy late summer evening.
Speight’s Ale House is still closed for a couple of days, but across Ballarat St there is the familiar sight of a packed courtyard at 1876, and the high-vis tradie brigade perched at Pig and Whistle, while Brazz looks to be having one of its busiest nights in months.
At Steamer Wharf, a bubbly Pier waitress says they have a manageable crowd tonight — over the past couple of weeks venues at that end of town have been run ragged.
Over a quick drink at Pub on Wharf — the only spot with a seat outside — a long-time local tells me we cannot live in hibernation forever.
‘‘We’ve got to adjust to [Covid] and just get on with it,’’ he said.
There is no queue at Fergburger, on Shotover St, but the neighbouring Ferg Bar is humming by 8pm.
At Bardeaux, beside Searle Lane, one of our favourite bartenders is making a cameo appearance.
He quit the industry a few months ago to get into gardening but answered an SOS call that night, because they had just one regular staff member able to open.
It is a similar story at Lone Star, where a long-time employee, who left a long time ago, jumped in to help out.
A doorman at Bardeaux said they normally work at 15 bars and venues in the CBD.
Ten of them are closed on Friday.
Some have already been closed for a few weeks, others have just shut the doors, one is rumoured to be hibernating until winter, at least.
Normally by 10pm Church St sister venues The World Bar and Yonder would be pumping.
Neither are open and there is hardly a human to be seen between Marine Parade and Bunker where, by 10.30pm, there are 13 people seated, making it one of the busiest places in town at this hour.
By the time I leave, just over an hour later, there are too many heads to count — almost like days of old.
Almost.
Punters spoken to, perhaps unsurprisingly, are not fazed about Covid.
Many feel a sense of relief it has finally arrived bringing with it, hopefully soon, a return to ‘‘normal’’.
Long-term locals say the effects of Covid on the community over the past two years are not all bad — parking is no longer a headache, the almost constant traffic jams are gone, and you can walk down the street and see people you know in the CBD.
Queenstown will recover, they say, but it will look different.
Some of the outlets in hibernation may not reopen, but perhaps that presents opportunities for a more diverse CBD offering?
Hospitality staff, who have borne the brunt this month, are as hospitable as ever, trying to be optimistic and making the most of things.
Queenstown on Friday night felt a lot like the shoulder season of old, just three months too soon.
The shift to Phase 3 may signal the start of a long-awaited recovery for the resort, a community whose resilience has been tested to its limits for two years.
But the one question no-one can answer is what Queenstown will look like by winter.
