New Zealand will move to level 3 of lockdown on Monday, April 27 at 11:59pm. Alert level 3 will be held for two weeks and then Cabinet will assess whether to move down another level.
Delicious Ponsonby takeaway, fly fishing, motor-sport racing, trips to the theatre - Kiwis across the country have been daydreaming about the one million and one things they plan to do at the end of the lockdown.
So what are they hoping to do when New Zealand moves from its hardline level 4 Covid-19 lockdown to level 3 next Tuesday?
Here school kids, young workers, business owners and retirees tell the Herald how they've been coping and what they just can't wait to do.
Jackson Rogers, 7 years old
Seven-year-old Jackson Rogers, pictured with mum Sarah and dad Craig has been loving all the building jobs he's doing with his dad during lockdown. Photo / Supplied
And Jackson doesn't mind either because it gets him outside with dad Craig - a busy local fireman, who has been home more often during the lockdown.
"I get to stay home more with my family," Jackson said when asked about the best thing about lockdown.
He and his dad have built a roof for the carport and used chainsaws, while Jackson built a kennel by himself for the family pooch.
He does miss his school buddies, however.
Yet, not that much will change during the move to alert level 3 for Jackson and his family.
Jackson won't be back at school, dad Craig will still keep working as a fireman, and mum Sarah will still have to leave the property to deliver groceries to her mother and other elderly neighbours, while also feeding the family horses off site.
Molly Godfrey Mullany, 15 years old
Molly Godfrey Mullany, 15, and brother Flynn, 17, hope to one day get back on patrol as lifeguards and maybe even go on their family trip to Europe. Photo / Supplied
A move to alert level 3 may grease the wheels of commerce for 15-year-old Molly Godfrey Mullany.
The Auckland high school student has been taking her mum's extra clothes and selling them online. And the orders kept rolling in during lockdown.
"So I've been getting money, but I'm not able to send them out," she said.
As a "contactless" business, however, alert level 3 might finally give her the chance to post her goods out to waiting customers.
Alert level 3 next week might also mean the chance to get takeout from S.P.Q.R. in Ponsonby - the family's favourite restaurant.
Her other plans may have to wait beyond alert level 3, however. Studying her first year of the National Certificate of Educational Achievement has been really tough at home and so she is looking forward to meeting her buddies back in the classroom and rejoining swim squad.
She also can't wait to get back on patrol as a lifesaver at Muriwai beach - although that may now have to wait for the return of summer. And no one knows when the family will be able to go ahead with their planned trip to Europe.
Brother Flynn, 17 - a hot prospect in motor racing - has also had to turn to virtual racing rather than the real thing during lockdown.
Yet out of the strange circumstances has come a touching new tradition.
Every Sunday night, the family now sit down at the dinner table and eat over a Zoom call with their "nanna, poppa and cousins".
Ash Thomas, 26, gets in the party spirit with her cat ahead of her 27th birthday while in lockdown this Wednesday. Photo / Supplied
Ash Thomas is due to celebrate her 27th birthday this Wednesday on what was originally expected to have been the last day of lockdown.
And so there is a good reason why alert level 3 can't come fast enough for her - birthday presents.
During the lockdown her husband was forced to appear before her ashen faced and out of ideas about what he could buy online.
"So basically I'm going to get sweat pants and a couple of T-shirts," Thomas said.
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Greater online shopping options should open up in alert level 3, and so she is hopeful of seeing the economy spark out of its flat-lined state next Tuesday.
"That's not just for personal selfish reasons of wanting a birthday present," she joked.
In fact - despite thinking of posting a photo online this Wednesday showing her celebrating her birthday alone with her cat - she suspected this year might be her most memorable birthday yet.
Instead, the real change will come when its safe to see her mum and family again.
Cory Scott, 45 years old
Cory Scott - NZ's champion fly fisherman and owner of New Zealand Surfing Magazine - can't wait to get back in the water. Photo / Cory Scott
Gisborne resident Cory Scott will likely be out the door at 5am next Tuesday and heading to his favourite fishing spot, 30 minutes down the road.
New Zealand's national fly fishing champion is addicted to fishing.
So the coming alert level 3 step down will be like a mental health day, allowing him to soak in the quiet outdoors.
"It will be good to just release all the pent up frustrations and clear your head, obviously with my business there is a lot going on in my head," he said.
A former competitive surfer, Scott is now a photographer and owner of New Zealand Surfing Magazine.
But Covid-19 wreaked havoc on his business. His latest edition was set to be a travel feature and the magazine's biggest earner of the year.
But as tourism fell off a cliff, the Pacific Island resorts and airlines that typically advertise with him had to pull out.
Scott revamped the edition to focus on surfing in New Zealand and signed on new sponsors only to find his business was non-essential and couldn't go to the printers.
Despite that, he supports the lockdown and has stayed at home. Not everyone in the Gisborne surfing community has. It's turned lifelong friends on each other as some surfers call the cops on their mates.
Adding to the anguish among surfers is that the country has been blessed by epic waves during the lockdown.
Alert level 3 might hopefully bring peace to the surf community, Scott said. And the lockdown also hasn't been all bad for him.
As a man who is normally away from home for vast stretches of the year, he has been able to spend precious time with the family.
Eileen Smith, 88 years old
Eileen Smith, 88, doesn't mind lockdown. She's seen tough times in post war London, especially during the Great Smog of London in 1952. Photo / Supplied
Eileen Smith moved to New Zealand in 1958 after a whirlwind romance. Before that she was a young nurse in a London, which still lay partly in ruins after World War II and which suffered from the infamous great smog in 1952.
Smith can see the parallels with Covid-19.
Some researchers estimated up to 6000 people died from the respiratory effects the Great London Smog's air pollution wrought, while many more were taken ill.
She saw them coming into the emergency ward struggling to breathe, while others were hurt on the roads because of the poor visibility.
Smith also had to make her way to work over the rubble of war-damaged buildings and so knows what its like to see a nation pull together to common cause.
Now at a Selwyn Village retirement home in Auckland, she said she was not so bothered by the isolation she must endure from other residents and family during the Covid-19 lockdown.
That's partly because she has adapted to technology. A lover of London's theatres as a young woman, she's been trying to catch online streaming performances by The Royal NZ Ballet and Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.
She also celebrated her 88th birthday on Sunday and was able to have her daughters and grand kids come to the gate of her retirement home and wish her the best from a safe distance, while also giving gifts that were handed on to her by the security guards.
Alert level 3 likely won't change much for her. Only when she can cuddle her beloved 2-year-old granddaughter again will life really start returning to normal.
