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Goodbye, world
Apr. 9th, 2021 06:53 pmThis time last year was the weirdest time in the whole pandemic for us Kiwis. After our PM Jacinda Ardern memorably declared "We only have 120 cases, but so did Italy once", on March 25 a state of national emergency was declared and New Zealand was plunged into an intense lockdown. For seven weeks, the only things open were supermarkets and pharmacies. You were only allowed to leave the house for essential food shopping and exercise close to home. We all agreed with it, we all supported it, and we all did it.
It was so, so quiet. Not just because nobody was out, but because there were no planes. Our borders were completely closed, and of course there were no domestic flights either. But on one day, there was an exception.
When the borders closed, people of many nationalities got stranded here. The German government chartered a fleet of Lufthansa planes to repatriate the 12,000 Germans needing to get home. To thank the many New Zealanders who had helped the stuck Germans by offering them emergency accommodation, one of the captains asked permission to circle over Auckland as they departed. And on this day last year, that's what he did.
It was far more spectacular than I was expecting. He circled three times over the city, far lower than is normally allowed. The roar of the engines was overwhelming against the silence of the lockdown. I went outside to watch, and so did most of my neighbours. We were all smiling. We were all waving. And it was surreal because none of us knew when we were going to see a plane here again.
I didn't know, then, what a big thing that was going to be. But I will never forget it.
It was so, so quiet. Not just because nobody was out, but because there were no planes. Our borders were completely closed, and of course there were no domestic flights either. But on one day, there was an exception.
When the borders closed, people of many nationalities got stranded here. The German government chartered a fleet of Lufthansa planes to repatriate the 12,000 Germans needing to get home. To thank the many New Zealanders who had helped the stuck Germans by offering them emergency accommodation, one of the captains asked permission to circle over Auckland as they departed. And on this day last year, that's what he did.
It was far more spectacular than I was expecting. He circled three times over the city, far lower than is normally allowed. The roar of the engines was overwhelming against the silence of the lockdown. I went outside to watch, and so did most of my neighbours. We were all smiling. We were all waving. And it was surreal because none of us knew when we were going to see a plane here again.
I didn't know, then, what a big thing that was going to be. But I will never forget it.
