Managed Isolation Walk

 

My first blue band after a nurse cut it off

We have been in managed isolation in Auckland, New Zealand,  for eight days now.  In that time I have only been allowed to go for two good walks.  When the nurses decide it is safe for you to go on walks they give you a blue band.

Sadly my blue band was taken away after my kid got a migraine.   The reasoning was that the migraine could have been covid so we were both confined to our room until my kid got the results of a covid test.  This was to be his second covid test in 24 hours. The results were slow to come but they were negative, so I got my blue band back.

With my blue band I can make an appointment to go for a walk supervised by the the New Zealand Aviation Security Forces.  The walk is in a highly controlled and guarded fenced in area. 

Photography is allowed if no people are photographed.  I only brought my iPhone along for photography instead of one of my big cameras so I would not risk upsetting people.  

When I asked if I could walk to the fence to take a photo of an orange tree a somewhat bemused security guard escorted me to the edge of the fence.  She seemed quite surprised when I told her that orange trees do not grow where I am from.

The walks last 40 minutes and are entirely on a hard surface.  I only manage to walk 2 miles or 3.7K in this amount of time but my legs and feet still hurt a lot at the end.  I think that walking on a hard surface is what is hurting me.  

Also I've gained about ten pound in the past year and packing that extra weight around can't help.  I think I am the heaviest I have ever been in my life not counting my pregnancies.  

I am very thankful for these short walks, they are so good for my mental health! 

2 miles or 3.7k with no elevation gain.

We wait here for our walks

These doors lead to the courtyard where anyone with a blue
band and wander around between 8 and 8.  

A tiny glimpse of the city beyond our hotel fence

Fenced in area with double fences 2 meters apart (6 feet) to
keep our germs in. 

Our fenced in walking route

There is double fence on the outside perimeter of our walk that
encloses the entire hotel as far as I can tell.  This keeps the public
far enough away from those isolating that they won't catch covid
if they try talking to them I guess. 

There were a lot of people out walking so photo 
opportunities were very limited

Orange tree behind a double row of fencing

Privacy sheets on the outer fence that faces a busy street

My track log on an open source NZ map

My track log in Google Earth

Resting my tired feet back in my room after my walk.
We are very lucky to have a room with access to a little
fenced in patio area.  It took four phone calls, but 
eventually we were given two plastic chairs to sit on outside.

New Zealand Aotearoa Bound

 A quick photo essay of our travel to New Zealand and our first day in quarantine. 

Saying goodbye to our house 

Saying goodbye to the spot in our house where I found late husband dead.

My last night with Sage

Saying goodbye to our pet chickens

Saying goodbye to Sage at the Sea-Tac parking lot
shortly after this we said goodbye to my oldest child as well, but I don't
have a picture from that.  

On our Alaska Airlines plane on the tarmac at Seattle, bound for Los Angeles

Nearly empty flight to L.A. 

Last glimpse of the Pacific Northwest somewhere South of Seattle

Landing in Los Angeles

Nearly empty International Terminal at LAX (Los Angeles)

Nearly empty International Terminal at LAX (Los Angeles)

Our ride to New Zealand

Nearly empty International Terminal at LAX (Los Angeles)

On Air New Zealand all the middle seats are empty

In flight entertainment

Seat back screen shows we are about to land in New Zealand Aotearoa

Sunrise shortly before landing

First glimpse of Aotearoa

Passengers all from just our plane transit through the Auckland Airport international terminal 

Welcome to Aotearoa

Passengers on just our flight in a single file socially distanced line
waiting to enter passport control 

Setting foot on the ground for the first time at the exit to
the Auckland Airport where we were loaded directly onto a shuttle

We are the only people on this shuttle headed for our Managed Isolation Hotel

Passing by the Novotel Auckland Hotel also a Managed Isolation while
on our way to isolation at the Holiday Inn.  
Fences are up all around to keep people contained. 

 Our Hotel room at the Holiday Inn.  We will spend the next 14 days
quarantined here. We are not allowed to leave our room at all until
we get the results of our day zero covid test. 

Breakfast or lunch the first day, I can't remember and it does not
matter since my body clock was completely out of sync with my
surroundings by this point.  It is food and it tastes good.  We eat on our
 little patio but we have no patio furniture so I use the heat pump as a table.

Wynoochee Wandering

I was so tired, but I forced myself to go hiking anyway.  My days left here are short and this was supposed to be a sunny day.  I took Cougar-Smith road short cut to get to Wynoochee.

I was turned back by snow before my goal.  I've never given up on today's goal before and this was probably the last time I would ever be able to go there, so I was a bit sad about giving up.

I went down to the lakeshore trail to have my lunch on the lake. It is so peaceful and wonderful on the Wynoochee in the winter.  I got some photos that made me happy and I relaxed a bit on the beach.

5 miles with 600 feet elevation gain

Climacium dendroides moss

Wynoochee river

more Climacium

This is where I turned around