Sore Throat Dilemma

I have a niggly sore throat. More of a throat ache than a scratchy, irritated throat. It could be nothing but it could be something. What if I ignored it and went to work but it was the big C (which at the moment means Covid). So I alerted my team leaders that I wouldn't be at work today and booked a Covid test. I was given a pick up time of 11.59am which was interesting for two reasons. One is that 11.59 is an oddly specific time and the other was that it was a pick up time not a PCR test time. I turned up at the back of Team Medical at 11.56, was handed a box and returned home to do the Rapid Antigen Test myself. The good news is that 15 minutes later I knew I didn't have Covid-19. I had also been feeling very tired for the past few days so I had a restful day at home and postponed my squash game until Thursday. This evening I feel better and now have four spare test kits in case I need another RAT. 

Covid-19 Hits NZ

Two years ago today the first Covid-19 case was identified in New Zealand. Since then we have largely been protected from the waves of illness and death seen overseas by our closed border, MIQ, lockdowns and alert levels. In the past week that has all changed. Omicron, the most contagious variant, sneaked in a month ago and positive case numbers are exploding. Fortunately the vast majority of eligible people are vaccinated and that should prevent many hospitalizations and deaths. However the next few weeks could be quite disrupted as people get sick, have to self isolate, and supply chains and services are affected. One of my friend's learned this evening she has Covid. After two years the nasty little devil is here, circulating in our community.  

Covid Case Numbers

24 January             25

31 January             91

6 February            208

13 February          810   

20 February        2522

27 February     14,941

ParkRun

 After a six month hiatus due to Covid, storm damage, then Covid again, ParkRun finally restarted yesterday at Otaihanga Domain. At least it is still summer and not cold or dark rising at 7am on a Saturday and slogging my way down the Waikanae River path at 8am. It really was a slog and my time was slow. But I ran the whole way and completed my 44th ParkRun. 

Three Invasions

1) Protestors invaded central Wellington and are still there 18 days later. 

2) Omicron invaded New Zealand with thousands of cases per day now.

3) Russia invaded Ukraine yesterday.

The worst invasion by far is Russia's unprovoked attack on Ukraine. People are fleeing, fighting and dying. The protestors in Wellington believe their rights and freedom have been trampled on by vaccine mandates but that pales into comparison with what is happening to the rights and freedoms of the citizens of Ukraine. I agree with the right to protest but the Wellington protestors have ignored the rights of others to go about their daily lives unimpeded and free from threats and abuse. The Covid-19 Omicron invasion is now in the exponential growth stage we were warned about. In the past three days the number of known positive cases has shot up from 3297 to 6137 to 12 011 cases. 

Some items of interest I have read today:

'No place for kids': Police officer talks about life on the frontline of the protest. 

Vanishing Number Plates

 After a pleasant walk with Mary yesterday I thought there was something odd about my car as I approached it parked on the road below her house. It took me a couple of seconds to figure it out but then I realised the rear number plate was missing. I walked around the car and the front plate was also missing!

Some lowlife ratbag had stolen the plates during the hour we were out walking. It was broad daylight between 5.20 and 6.30pm so it was a very cheeky heist. I was disgusted that someone would steal my number plates to use in some sort of criminal activity. 

It was also a real hassle because I had to go through the process of sorting it all out. I was on hold with the police 105 call centre for an hour before I could make a report yesterday evening, today I had to visit the AA office to organise new plates, then it took me a while to track down where I could purchase anti theft screws. I bought a packet of screws from Repco on the way to squash then couldn't figure out how on earth to attach the plates to the car. The screw holes on the plate don't match the holes in the car. Ahhhh! I will leave that problem until tomorrow. Meanwhile I am driving around without number plates and with the police report in my car in case I am stopped. 

Mount Taranaki

My weekend in Egmont National Park was both awesome and disappointing. It was disappointing not to make it to the summit of Mt Taranaki but still an awesome walk, despite the awful weather, with a great group of people. 

I joined a Parawai Tramping Club trip to Mt Taranaki. We travelled up to Stratford on Friday and stayed at the lodge at the Stratford Holiday Park. We popped down to the main street to find takeaway dinner in the evening and Mt Taranaki was clearly visible against a bright blue sky. However the next morning it was cloudy with a mixed weather forecast. We set off from the North Egmont Visitor Centre at about 8.30am and began the slog - up a steep four wheel drive track to Tahurangi Alpine Lodge, then up a rocky gorge, a long flight of stairs and onto the scree slope. The scree didn't seem too bad to start with but after a while it got thicker and looser and it was difficult to take a step without also sliding backwards. Unfortunately the weather was wet and became much windier and colder the higher we went. After climbing about 1000 metres we decided the only safe thing to do was turn back. We were all wet, the wind was strong and as soon as we stopped moving we felt cold. The loose scree wasn't much easier going down. I fell backwards a couple of times but didn't do any damage. A couple of others had scrapes and bumps. The rough scoria could easily graze skin but I had so many layers of clothes on that I didn't get scratched. Next time I would take better gloves - someone suggested gardening gloves which sounds like a great idea. 

We made it back down to Tahurangi Lodge and instead of going directly down the four wheel drive track we took a side route to Maketawa Hut. The track consisted mostly of puddles but our socks and boots were already soaking wet (they squelched as I walked) so it was easier to walk straight through the puddles than try to manoeuvre around them. We had a lucky break at lunch, the sun came out as we sat on the deck so we warmed up and filled up at the same time. The best thing about the Maketawa walk was the lush and beautiful vegetation. It started with shrubs on the higher part of the track then from the hut back to the visitor centre it was dense rainforest, dripping with moisture from the misty rain. 

 

Extreme Weather

It rained all last weekend and it has rained most of this weekend. Both Sunday temperatures plunged to 15°C and were windy as well. Today the whole North Island copped the remnants of Cyclone Dovi with flooding, wind damage and cool temperatures. But it hasn't been too depressing for me because I have been on annual leave and enjoyed the sunshine and being outdoors during the week. I was productive during the rain and made two skirts. I was productive during the fine weather and tackled several garden jobs. I did the Nikau Reserve up and down twice on Wednesday morning and sweated buckets. The temperature reached 28°C that day but the view from the top was excellent (twice). 

The wait for Omicron to dig its claws into the country seems to be coming to an end. In the past few days the number of cases has risen sharply from 200 to 810 daily cases (a week later on 20/2 there are 2522 cases). Café Lane and a Thai restaurant have been named as the first locations of interest in Kapiti. Fortunately Alison finished working at Café Lane a few weeks ago. The protestors outside Parliament are living in a sea of mud after the weekend rain (photo from Stuff below). It would be ironic if Covid spread through that unmasked, unvaccinated group but I guess that's a risk they are willing to take.