The UK has suffered so’
prior to lockdown,” said the 35-yearold.
“As we came out of full lockdown into the earlier levels there were restrictions in place but that feels a distant memory now.
“I haven’t been to any large event but all our weekly events like big weekend markets and pubs and clubs are back to normal so I have been in public gatherings in that respect, and it all feels 100% normal.
“I personally feel totally safe. And I was proud to be part of a community that took the lockdown seriously and I feel we are reaping the rewards, especially when you look around the globe.”
He moved to Nelson, the oldest city in New Zealand’s South Island, five years ago, having left Gateshead several years earlier, and he’s been back to the North East only once since.
Given the pride he has felt in his community pulling together, he said scenes in the UK of huge crowds, lockdown raves and people flouting the rules have left him stunned. “I just shake me head at many back home,” he said.
“Especially these lockdown parties – we couldn’t believe it over here.
“And then they appeared to be the first to complain that the measures were being held in place for a greater amount of time. Unbelievable really.”
He said he would take his daughter for a walk each day near the local beach, to be greeted not by the big crowds which gathered at some UK beaches once lockdown was eased, but by a couple of walkers.
“I knew we were doing the right thing even as hard it was to see all the public kids’ parks cordoned off with hazard tape,” he added.
“But we bit down and got through and made it all the sweeter once we were getting back into the swing of normal life.”
That ‘new normal’ differs massively from Britain. While Britain’s pubs and restaurants are reopening, live sport and events still feel some way off.
Theatres and gig venues can reopen next month, but many simply aren’t. Instead, live music is having to be staged in the great outdoors. And the threat of a second wave constantly lurks, with PM Boris Johnson admitting rising numbers in Spain show that threat could become a reality unless cases are curbed.
In New Zealand, social distancing ended last month. In an address, Jacinda Arden said her country had “united in unprecedented ways to crush the virus.
“Our goal was to move out the other side as quickly and as safely as we could,” she added.
“We now have a head start on our economic recovery.”
That recovery, for now, won’t include the lucrative tourism trade which is worth around £20bn a year to New Zealand.
According to 55-year-old Debbie Arthur, the economy is already recovering in some areas, though.
And for her, the greatest gift is the near-“total freedom” she can finally enjoy.
She said: “It feels very different from before Covid. No social distancing, but no overseas travel in or out.
“All businesses are open. Sporting and music events are normal, but no international fixtures.”
Like in Britain, Kiwis are being encouraged to take ‘staycations’ to help breathe life into the tourism industry. But despite living in arguably the safest country on the planet, she – like so many of us – want to go back to the old normal.
She’d planned on flying back to Tyneside in June, to visit her elderly parents.
There is a family wedding in November in New Zealand, and there are growing concerns that her family in the North East won’t be able to make it.
And all the while, all three expats are under no illusion that the virus has the potential to slip back into the country – and ruin what they now have.
“There are still those with apprehensions, especially watching other countries go back into lockdown and seeming to have lost control of the virus,” added Debbie.
“I feel safe for now, and proud of what we have achieved in New Zealand.
“There is always a risk of an outbreak here; and how long do we have to remain isolated from the world?”