Limbo Days

On arrival, we received a speech from the Navy officer responsible for our quarantine facility, who cautioned us against referring to it as a hotel; it’s a quarantine facility (of course it’s also a hotel). For the first couple days of our stay, we would be relegated to our rooms, except when we were called down to the second floor for COVID tests, which we would receive on Day 0, Day 3, and Day 12. If and when our first test results came back negative, we would receive blue wristbands to wear for the rest of our stay. These wristbands would permit us to leave the room for scheduled outdoor time (40 minutes/day), or to drop off laundry or pick up groceries in the lobby. When outside the room, we were to wear masks at all times, and our family was to move as a bubble.

There are “1 bubble” stickers on the pavement in front of the hotel and in the lobby, spaced two meters apart, and we skipped forward from sticker to sticker as other pods made their way through the line. We identified our luggage, carried what we could ourselves and received assurances that the rest would be delivered by friendly young Navy men. We received our keycard at the front desk, placed our food orders for the rest of the day, and made our way up to the sixth floor and our room. Which was nicer than we’d anticipated. A suite with a large bedroom, a fold-out bed for the kids in the living room, and a well-stocked kitchenette, including a table for four, Nespresso machine, microwave, mini fridge and stovetop. A couple hours later we were called down to the second floor for our first health check, which thereafter would be done at the door of our room.

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We’re on the southwest corner of the building. To the west we have a view over a small amusement park and what otherwise looks like a light industrial zone. To the south there’s a hipster church and a Denny’s, a tangle of roads, and in the distance an artificial whitewater rafting facility that we can barely make out. The view got old after a few days, but we spend a fair amount of time leaning on the windowsills and looking out into the distance, anyway. After the rain you get a long view out to the west over the water and to some hills beyond. There have been a couple of quite lovely sunsets.

We’ve grown tired of the food pretty quickly. It’s heavy on meat, fried food, and mayonnaise. Mayo on pizza was a low point (I will say, for the sake of balance, that the eggs here are absolutely amazing, their yolks an almost alarmingly deep orange). Michelle has made a couple orders of mostly fruit, yogurt, and wine from a local supermarket, which has helped us get through some of the tougher meals. They start serving each meal on the first floor and work their way up to us last, so we tend to get pretty peckish, especially waiting for breakfast, which tends not to come until nine-ish, which feels pretty late when you’ve been up since four (Reminds me of a joke about an old couple at a Catskills resort: “The food here is terrible!” “Yes, and such small servings!”). Michelle and the kids have done mukbangs with some of the more unfamiliar offerings, and they’re also making ice cream in the fridge with an odd assortment of ingredients.

What with all the staring out the window, waiting for meals at the door, and pacing the enclosure when we’re let outside, we’re all feeling rather canine. We also read books and play games and watch movies. We do our exercise routines. Watching NZ television is fun, and the kids have fallen in love with Holey Moley, an Australian show that is half mini golf half ninja warrior. New Zealand TV generally seems a bit informal and silly, which we enjoy. The ads are hilarious.

Some school supplies got dropped at our door a few days ago and the kids have used them a bit, but unfortunately the materials are for grades 8 and 6 rather than ages 8 and 6. Oops. So we’ve made up a few of our own school activities, including researching and compiling New Zealand bucket lists, which we shared with each other yesterday. We’re learning about New Zealand flora and fauna, which continue to amaze us and we can’t wait to actually see them in person (the only birds we’ve actually spotted are gulls and fantails, which are cool). On Valentine’s Day we all made valentines for each other, took turns hiding them and had a scavenger hunt. I think that was the day that Emlen decided his teddy bear was going to seduce Michelle. Since then we’ve had some high drama, which sometimes involves Emlen taking great offense on Teddy’s behalf.

In all, I think we’re feeling quite starved for novelty (not to mention vegetables), as it’s quite a monotonous existence. The kids and I have identified all the plants within camerashot of the parking lot. Michelle runs at 6 in the morning (the only time we are allowed to run — at all other times we may only walk in the yard), and sometimes has little tidbits to report. I went for a walk in the rain yesterday, which was nice because there were only three other quarantinees in the yard, so I felt a little less cramped. The wind blew off one guy’s hat and I got quite excited because I would have something to tell the family about when I returned to the room.

After much research and discussion, we decided against flying and in favor of renting a little bus (a Toyota Hiace) to get us to Gisborne next Monday. As we have 15 pieces of luggage, a normal-sized vehicle wasn’t going to cut it. We’ve had to rent the Hiace for two weeks, which is the minimum for a one-way rental to Gisborne, but on the upside, the company will drop it off here at the hotel Monday morning, which should ease our departure. It’s about a six-hour drive through what looks to be some beautiful territory, including a stretch along the coast. So I promise some more exciting pictures in the next post!

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