Hey Auckland!
Here's what Northland thinks about you coming for a holiday
Summer is coming and Auckland is breaking free. In anticipation of those escaping to the North, David Fisher visited and interviewed dozens of people about the imminent arrivals.
To those escaping Auckland in 10 days — happy holidays. Like everything else right now, expect to attach some elasticity to the term “happy”.
Northland is bracing for your arrival with an expectation that at least 50,000 and possibly twice that will make the journey to your baches, our beaches, campgrounds, hotels and motels.
Some up here will welcome you with socially-distanced open arms. Some are eager for your money. Some recognise you carried a load we couldn’t because of low vaccination rates.
There are also those communities that do not want you. Some are planning to shut the world away and avoid you and everyone until they feel it’s safe to come out. There will be friction. Everyone is on edge.
There’s no guidebook to this.
It will be written as summer unfolds, just as the story of this pandemic has been written, with twists in every chapter and cliffhangers loaded with foreboding.
Here, though, is the prologue to that guidebook. The Herald on Sunday was Auckland’s advance party this week, travelling hundreds of kilometres and speaking to dozens of people about how they feel about the border coming down on December 15.
For those coming on holiday, many turn east to the coast where the current roadblock sits and head for Auckland’s boltholes along beach communities from Mangawhai up to Waipu¯ .
At the Mangawhai Tavern, manager Justin Howse, 48, details preparations, lessons learned from earlier lockdowns and planning for the traffic light system. It’s an insight into just how Covid complicates life. Howse has got together the 30 vaccinated staff who run the tavern and talked through scenarios, attempting to prepare for issues that arise with the vaccine pass.
“It’s going to slow things down. We will have people on the door checking passes. We’ve just got to