Looking back on a rollercoaster year

Reflecting back on a crazy year. Image / Supplied

A year ago our Prime Minister made the decision to lock down our country to keep us safe.

It was unheard of but it was something that needed to happen to protect ourselves from the fast spreading coronavirus, killing people throughout the world at a rapid pace.

New Zealand families were introduced to a new and unsure wave of panic, stressing about family in other parts of the world, wondering if the world was coming to an end, worrying about food and cleaning supplies, the last-minute crazy toilet paper purchasing, emergency planning, a slight panic of unsurety, wearing masks, and having to accept and adjust overnight to a new way of living.

After a week or two, we embraced "staying in our bubbles", buying online, nominating someone to go out and stand in long lines at the supermarket.

We got used to the quiet streets, the non-polluted diesel filled air, experimenting and cooking three meals a day and baking old time goodies, gardening and realising how important it is to have at least one broom to clean the yard.

We said hello to people who would go for regular walks in the morning and realised they lived close by.

We slowed down, we spent quality time with our whānau and our dogs and cats. We became quite savvy on the internet and created lockdown social media videos, games and singing groups, and we did what we do best and entertained ourselves.

We assessed our lives in a new way, and we learned to appreciate what we have and love and tolerate those around us. Zooming became the norm. Showering at 2pm became the norm, if it was normal already, and we began to engage with each other in a new way. We learned a lot about ourselves, our family and our neighbours.

We congratulate the government call not to manage Covid-19 but eliminate it. Although we have experienced yoyo lockdowns, New Zealand is still the best place to be.

From March last year Ngāti Kahungunu iwi leaders stood up and supported their communities right to the hardest people they needed to contact, which were our whānau pounamu, our elderly. Since that time our Ngāti Kahungunu chiefs have gone from strength to strength and now we have leaders in housing, economic development, environment, and protection and development as well.

We can only report one Kahungunu death associated with Covid, and she was a kuia living in Australia, but overall we can congratulate every individual for their vigilant efforts to protect the health and wellbeing of themselves, their families, their communities and our whole country.

We shouldn't be in a rush to open our boarders for quick economic gain and putting us at risk quicktime, especially as a double mutant virus has been discovered in India. Everybody is suffering but everyone is safe. We must not be in a hurry to open our borders, even to Australia.

To the front line vaccinators and border workers, we thank you for your efforts and leadership to keep us all safe. Vaccine will be available to everybody within three months. We know some people are still worried about the vaccine and only strong research and evidence will inform our people in their decision making.

My wife Mere and I had our second vaccine last week which is a year to the day, after the first lockdown. Who would have thought that we would all have been through that rock and roll year and still come through without the frightening fatalities that are being recorded around the world.

Our decision to be vaccinated is a step towards bringing life back to normalcy, to protect our whānau, friends and those most vulnerable and to be one small part of the solution.

We still need to be vigilant, alert, but we should support each other unconditionally. Yahoo! Bring on another year.