8-15 COVID-19 – Summary Week One
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| Berlin Calling - Things we miss during Code Yellow |
What a week it has been. The world
has stopped and we are all given a lot of extra time rather we want it or not.
We are trying to focus on the positive and that is being stranded in one of the
arguably most beautiful and currently safest places on the planet. To date we
do not have a confirmed COVID-19 case and the authorities as well as everybody
else on the island and in New Zealand are working tirelessly that this
statistic stands. People, we might be bouncing back from this sooner than we
think so let’s try to enjoy this time we are given and try to fill it with
something meaningful. Let’s be bold and try something NEW!
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| Son, we got this. Well, next time:) |
8 – COVID-19 Rocket der Hahn –
Teil 1 (Rocket the Rooster – Part 1)
This is exactly it. Our attempt at
doing and trying something new. As previously mentioned, we had a bit of an
opposite week what was an adult only resort now has two permanent residents
aged 5 and 3 years old. No jumping in the pool. Yeah, right, try policing that
again. Good luck. Our directors suggested to turn the Yoga Lawn into a Kumara
plot and that’s when we were thinking, Kumara Mesh and organic eggs from our
own chickens. Third opposite: what was supposed to be our new guest laundry has
turned into a chicken coop using offcuts and discarded building materials from
past projects. It took the best parts of two days to get it all together and in
all honesty, we were pretty stocked about the result.
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| Rocket flies into freedom |
9 – COVID-19 - Rocket der Hahn –
Teil 2 (Rocket the Rooster – Part 2)
Two years ago, we extended the old
pump house and added a small storage shed. Three Walls, a door and a kikau
roof. Very simple, we didn’t even worry about sealing the floor just put a
pallet down to store our pool cleaning equipment and pool salt.
So, in the current
situation it makes for the perfect chicken coop and when we finally reopen and
start getting the guest laundry on the way we would have to have removed the
old shed anyways. It was/is the perfect opportunity to try something NEW. We
even managed to catch a rooster with the chicken trap that our staff usually
uses to catch the noisy birds. I am telling you; we are going through quiet a
bit to guarantee a good night’s sleep for our guests. And Mama Rima cooks a mouth-watering
Rooster Curry.
Unluckily for us, the kikau wasn’t
strong enough anymore and after I released Rocket into his new home he charged
straight for a tiny gap in the roofing, charged a second time and was up on the
roof. Looking at us triumphantly and flying away into freedom. What a moment.
Two days’ worth of work for nothing. Perseverance, we still have some aces up our sleeves and so
Yann and I have continued the project and will share it in an upcoming post.
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| Thanks for all comments and likes, wonderful people!!! |
10 – COVID-19 – Sharing is Caring
– The Economic Response Plan is Online
This post is a personal favourite
from this week’s selection. You know as a hotel we have a significant budget
for marketing and some very clever people that make it all happen behind the
scenes. Global reach, it’s always about connecting with your customer,
converting interest into bookings and all that type of jazz.
And then we post a
bunch of photos of a bunch of bananas on Facebook and the reach and comment
sections are going through the roof. Tripple of a sponsored post at best. Last
time I checked we got almost 4.5k in post reach and close to 300 comments. The Facebook
algorithm must really favour authentic content. Writing and pretty pictures are
definitely hard work and – the strongest post on the blog has reached 69
people. And 10 out of those are probably from me personally. Just checking if
really nobody reads it?!? Now that would be something useful to do with my time
during Code Yellow: Online internship with Facebook to learn about what works
and what doesn’t!
The post also touches on German
stereotypes when we travel: the talking about the weather type guest but it
really only relates to us and is not really funny for other readers. The Hoff
would get it though…
And then the post is
congratulating the government for hearing their people and putting together an
Economic Response Plan that will support its people and hopefully soften the
blow that everyone is feeling right now caused by COVID-19.
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| Check out Horses Of Rarotonga on Facebook. Manea |
11 – COVID-19 – Fahrrad Tour (Bike
Ride)
As a family we are off on our
bikes a lot. Yann just recently grew really confident riding his bicycle and we
have been exploring the back road in Tupapa. This time we cycled all the way
from Tupapa Heights to the Turangi Valley to visit our friends from
#HorsesofRarotonga. Three beautiful old ladies enjoying the rich, green grass
meadows of Turangi valley and the amazing care and love from our friend Brynn. Obviously
all rules of social distancing had been adhered to, so it was just us and the
horses that afternoon.
During these moments and when we
then talk to friends in Germany which are stuck in apartments with kids while
their country is in lockdown, is when we realize how wonderfully lucky, we have
been that the wheel of Fortuna has stopped just as we were here and not there.
Picture being in a 2-bedroom apartment in one of the major European cities
right now with kids and not being able to leave the house. At least with hardly
any traffic the air quality on the 1.5 square meter balcony would be above
average these days.
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| Gin - the shortcut to the childhood come-out-and-play moment |
12 – COVID-19 – Berliner Brandstifter
(Berliner Brandstifter)
This story was triggered by homesickness,
missing old friends from when life was much simpler (I am not referring to
COVID-19 here but to times pre kids, work, the search for balance – true childhood
friends) When conversations went something like this: “Can you come out and
play?” “Mum, can I go out and play?” “Sure, but be back before the lights come
on.” Us thinking, awesome we got away again. Mum probably thinking, finally 5
minutes to myself. A classic win-win parents child situation😊
Berlin, for me still is that place
even for adults – it always wants you to come out and play. You only remember
half of it but that is part of the fun. I mean, let’s be honest, how many actively
vivid childhood memories do we have? It’s more an emotional memory of a place
that was fun and colourful! Berlin is calling. Check out the link and you’ll
get the feeling.
Paul Kalkbrenner – Sky and
Sand
Just like the shirts from Pride
Cook Islands. Sad, that the Pride Day had to be postponed but I am sure we will
celebrate the rainbow even more when this whole episode is over!
Why was there the bottle of Berliner
Brandstifer Gin in this post? Because gin is a shortcut to the childhood
come-out-and-play moment. Enjoy the sundowners everyone. Responsibly,
obviously. We are drinking to enhance the feeling not to forget the moment😉
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| Life is pretty good right now |
13 – COVID-19 – Sommer – Sonne –
Gin (Summer – Sun – Gin)
And here we are with a glass of
gin in our hands, talking about how lucky we are to be where we are allowed to
be right now and enjoying the sunset over Titikaveka lagoon. Nothing to add,
just a big, majestic golden ball melting into the ocean as we are reinventing
ourselves. Did I mention that Gin is a shortcut to the good places in your
brain, yes?
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| Time to reflect |
14 – COVID-19 – Schreibpause (Writer’s
Break)
We are still looking for the right
formula but feel that we needed a day to reflect and make sure that what is
being posted has some sort of relevance in the context of the blog. A lot of
times we have been talking about the necessity to stop and just look at the
ocean which is what we have trialled this Sunday and loved it. So, we will
continue having a day off.
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| The village is hopeful that the payments will start soon |
15 – COVID-19 Finanzielle Hilfe? (Financial
Support?)
The final post for this cycle talks
about something that the German Chancellor mentioned in her address to the people
of Germany. Merkel mentioned that interaction between people is the number one
thing that she misses during code red. Lucky for us we are still in Code Yellow
with no confirmed cases yet. So, we can still go about our daily routine walk
down to the village shop, practise social distancing and carrying hand
sanitiser to disinfect money and the paper (it’s hilarious because afterwards
the paper needs to dry where I sprayed it. Might be a bit over the top but both
the shopkeeper and I insist on our little ritual in the morning.)
One thing that the village always
talks about is the wage subsidy? Any news? When does the government start
paying? Sales were good last week but are starting to significantly drop this
week, he told me. Last week the pantries were well stocked but this week some families
might starting to feel the pain the bit more. But the spirits are high, the
trust in their leaders is strong and with the usual mix of cheekiness and
relaxed island time he wishes me a good day and says: “See what happens.”
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