American’s Kiwi bach a sanctuary
When Lorna Shaw arrived from California for her annual Golden Bay holiday in February, she had no idea her stay would turn into a year-long escape from chaos at home.
The 82-year-old Laguna Beach resident planned to stay in her bach at Parapara Beach (a 15-minute drive from Takaka) for three months.
Then Covid-19 hit and her tourism visa was extended to September. Shaw had booked a return ticket last month and was feeling overwhelmed at the thought of returning home to a pandemic getting out of control, raging wildfires, extreme smoky air and heat conditions, and social unrest. News her visa would be extended again until February ‘‘came miraculously’’ a couple of weeks ago, and she cancelled her return flight.
Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi announced earlier this month that those already in the country with visitor visas due to expire before the end of October would get an automatic extension for five months.
Shaw, one of roughly 19,000 people in New Zealand who hold visitor visas eligible for the automatic extension, said she felt ‘‘very lucky to be here’’.
‘‘It’s not a good scene going on in my country. My kids told me to stay safe here, and they were right. I mean I love this country.’’
Shaw bought the Parapara bach in 1994 with her husband, who died in 2005. ‘‘It was his crazy idea,’’ she said.
Shaw has been coming every year since – apart from the year her husband died.
Most of her memories here are happy ones, but for the fact her husband was diagnosed with cancer here, she said.
The cold winter months were a bit of a surprise as she had always visited in summer.
She had brought only a few summer clothes, but found her late husband’s old winter jacket in a closet, was given a waterproof jacket, and found a merino shirt at the local hospice shop.
‘‘My clothing hasn’t been very fashionable but I don’t care; I survived,’’ she said.