Town springs back into life

As Blenheim joined the rest of the country in level two, Leo Wiapo grabbed his deck chair, some snacks and his tablet to answer emails, as he camped out waiting for a haircut.

‘‘I wasn’t even the first one here,’’ said Wiapo, who arrived well ahead of the 10am opening time for barber shop Creatures of Habit yesterday.

The shop was ready for the rush, bringing in an extra staff member. Hand sanitiser was at the ready and a contact tracing register had been set up.

Creatures of Habit owner Aaron ‘Noddy’ Nott was also in early for a big day.

Wiapo said he had not touched his hair at all through the lockdown. Normally he had a cut every three to four weeks, but with lockdown, it had been about eight.

‘‘I thought it would be offensive to Noddy if I tried to do anything myself,’’ he said.

Eleni-cafe´-kafenio owner Helene Marchant said it was ‘‘beautiful’’ to serve customers in store again, rather than through the contactless methods during level three.

‘‘We can’t wait to see people coming back into the CBD,’’ Marchant said.

‘‘Everyone we have seen so far have been so happy to be out. We need everyone in Blenheim to band together now.’’

CREW store manager Krista Payne said it was nice to see Blenheim go from having an ‘‘eerie feel’’ to being full of life.

Having worked through level three processing contactless orders Payne said it was nice to the central business district go from a ‘‘ghost town’’ to seeing people walking around the town again.

‘‘It’s so great to be back and seeing everyone out and about again,’’ Payne said.

Delicia Cafe employees Sophie Kilworth and Maggs Ritchie said while level three still felt slightly different than normal – they were ‘‘grateful’’ to back at work.

‘‘Everyone is being really considerate of others too which is really nice to see,’’ Ritchie said.

‘‘I’m really thankful to still have a job too, because obviously not everyone has been that lucky.’’

Figaro’s Cafe owner Rebecca Hill said she felt a ‘‘strong sense of community’’ being back at work and serving customers for the first time since New Zealand went into lockdown.

Hill said they chose not to open during level 3 for takeaways, so yesterday was the first day of trading for the team.

‘‘It’s been really nice seeing all of our customers again,’’ Hill said.

Marian Woodward and Em Baunton were enjoying Blenheim’s sunshine as they caught up.

The pair both lived in Christchurch and had come up to Blenheim before New Zealand went into lockdown to stay with family.

‘‘It’s been really nice to be with my family. It’s really good to see people in the CBD because it’s been so quiet,’’ Baunton said.