I remember the day we were told we would be moving to Alert Level 3 for the first time.
We’d been on a walk in the bush and we were wet, cold and muddy. Dad was on the computer and he called me and my brother in. He’d been looking at the Covid-19 website. When he read out the bit about schools closing for those whose parents aren’t essential workers, the only words I could really make out were “schools closing” and “kids of essential workers”.
At first I was shocked and a little upset. It was Otago Anniversary Day so we weren’t at school and it felt weird knowing we still wouldn’t be going back on Tuesday or Wednesday or any other day for four whole weeks.
But then the next day I learnt that me and my brother would be going into school for the two days of Level 3, before we went into Level 4.
The first day there were about 20 kids at school and the second day there were about 10. We live across the road from Balaclava School and you can see red stuff threaded through the playgrounds, so that different classes don’t play on the same equipment.
It’s very annoying having a whole school right across the road with heaps of wonderful playgrounds and places to run around yet not being able to go there.
Living on the corner of Mercer St and Leary St means that we only have a smallish flat bit up the top of Mercer St to run around and ride our bikes. Most of the time there are cars parked up there and our neighbours have the same idea so it’s even more cramped.
My teacher hosts Google Meets every morning for my class to attend. It’s nice seeing my friends but we’re all kept on mute unless we need to speak (which I guess is fair enough) so it’s not like they’re standing in front of me, in which case we would chat away without anyone putting us on mute. I miss my friends and I can’t wait until school starts back.
I went to the supermarket once with Mum during the lockdown and the line outside stretched right around the building, even though there were only about 15-20 people in it. Once inside I found it quite scary but fascinating at the same time seeing the supermarket so empty and those we did see wearing gloves and face masks stretched over their mouths and noses.
One thing I did like about the lockdown, though, was that everybody was friendly. Mum would say “hi” to complete strangers who were standing on the opposite side of the road. It was really nice seeing people walking their dogs and talking to people they’d never seen before while keeping their distance.
Some people, though, would see you coming from the other end of the street and instantly cross over to the other side and try not to make eye contact.
Another nice thing about the lockdown was there were no cars whooshing past giving off fumes and interrupting your conversations. Where we live we normally get heaps of planes and helicopters flying past but since the airports have closed that hasn’t happened for a long time, so when a plane flew past this morning I did something I hadn’t done since I was 7 — I jumped out of bed and ran to the window to see if I could see it, but it was too cloudy.
Before the lockdown Mum, my brother and I went to the library to get some books in case the library closed. I got 30 books, which is my normal amount so nothing special. About half an hour after we got back, Dad and I were chatting about Italy and Covid-19 when Mum came in and said, “Hannah, you won’t believe this, the library just shut down.”
We’d made it just in time and Mum was right, I couldn’t believe it!
Sadly, my 30 books only lasted me about the first two weeks of lockdown, and I’d been trying to make them last! Luckily, my birthday came and I got a couple of books then, including a dictionary and The Hobbit.
When Covid-19 first came to New Zealand we were getting 80 people falling ill a day and I didn’t think that was much because I’d only heard the unbelievably high numbers that Italy was getting. Now when we’[re only getting two a day, I think that Jacinda Ardern did a great job. Just remember, stay in your bubble and stay safe.
■The move to Level 2 makes this the final Voices in our series. You can read more at odt.co.nz/opinion.
