Big bear spotted in hedge stops traffic in rural Levin

Kitty Tunnell and Susi Wake with the big bear in the hedge outside their rural Levin property.

When a Levin family took to a huge hedge during lockdown, they left behind a little piece of Covid-19 magic.

Something made Dean and Kitty Tunnell stop when they were halfway through cutting their huge macrocarpa hedge outside their home last month.

While there were no toddlers or little children inside their bubble, they had already placed little teddy bears at the gate to cheer up people that might be walking past.

But they both were taken away by a bolt of inspiration to go one step further and create something a bit bigger for the people of Te Whanga Road.

They were joined by Susie, 22, and Lizzie, 16, on the secateurs and hedge clippers, and they also received some helpful advice from a neighbour standing across the road.

Kitty Tunnell and Susi Wake with the big bear.

Once they had placed the eyes, nose and a cheeky grin, "Mac" had come to life.

Cars had been slowing down and people had been commenting as they walked past. She said it was nice to think that "Mac" could cheer people up.

"It was just a bit of fun. Being stuck at home can be a bit tiring, a bit depressing, so it was just something positive to do to cheer people up," she said.

Dean Tunnell is an essential worker, a paramedic who is a shift manager with St John in Palmerston North.

He was asleep while the photo was taken, having worked through the night.