Whanganui ex-pats' Christmas abroad in a Covid-19 world

While those of us in New Zealand can look forward to a relatively normal festive season, those scattered around the globe will be celebrating Christmas under heavier Covid-19 restrictions.

Logan Tutty caught up with some Whanganui ex-pats who are abroad this Christmas.

Whanganui's Paige Mailman is currently in Perth and said 2020 had been quite the year for her.

Mailman lost her travel agent job in April due to the pandemic but quickly picked up a logistics and operations job.

She said with the JobKeeper scheme, she was able to get paid weekly while she found her new job.

"I was very lucky and love my job now. I think JobKeeper has been a lifesaver for so many New Zealanders over here who were so unsure what would happen to us."

Mailman planned on coming back for Christmas in January before Covid-19.

"I have thought about coming home, but there are hardly any flights and the ones that are available are incredibly expensive. Plus the idea of double quarantine is a massive put-off."

It has been a frustrating year trying to plan how to get back into New Zealand and Mailman hopes a transtasman bubble is created in 2021.

"I miss my family a ton. When I look at it overall, I have been lucky here in Perth. I just miss home."

There's one particular Christmas tradition she will miss.

"Mum's Christmas champagne breakfast. She would always put on a big morning spread with bubbles and my grandparents came over first thing to have it before we had a big family lunch.

"She makes a banging mint cheesecake too."

Lisa Czerwonka is also in Perth for Christmas this year. She doesn't have a whole lot planned for the day besides hanging with 5-month-old Macie and partner Shaun.

"There used to be this awesome joint Christmas we used to do with all the ex-pat Kiwis. There are a few going down to the river for the day so we may go down there."

Currently on maternity leave, Czerwonka said they had been lucky with how the state has handled Covid-19.

"Besides a three-week lockdown earlier in the year, life has been pretty normal. You don't see many people wearing masks these days."

Meanwhile, Perry Stewart will be spending his Christmas Day working, albeit from a luxury yacht in the Caribbean.

He works as a deckhand on a 55m yacht, where they spend up to a week chartering.

It was a strange year for Stewart, who flew back to New Zealand in April after losing his job.

He said it was an "11 out of 10" going through all the processes trying to get back in New Zealand.

"I was real fortunate I got home when I did as it was just before the mandatory quarantine. We had just gone into lockdown and a few of my friends drove up to Auckland and picked me up. At that stage, when you got into New Zealand you had eight hours for your designated trip home.

"We drove straight home where all three of us did a joint isolation. Two weeks in a hotel room sounds horrible."

He spent the next six months in Whanganui before securing another deckhand job in Puerto Rico, jetting off in mid-November.

It was quite a journey getting to his destination, he said.

"It was a spacious Air New Zealand flight, it was lovely. Then we were absolutely jampacked on an American Airlines flight from LA to Miami, it blew my mind."

Once in Miami, they sailed down to Puerto Rico, where they were confined to their boat for three days due to an outbreak in the country.

"We picked up the man who owns the boat and sailed up to US Virgin Islands where we picked up chartered guests."

Stewart said the Caribbean islands have done pretty well containing Covid-19.

"They don't have the facilities to deal with a big outbreak well so when they do get confirmed cases, they lock them down quickly."

He noted that masks and social distancing were both very much still in place.

He was unsure where they would be based going forward. It was supposed to be Puerto Rico, but due to Covid-19 cases, that doesn't look like the plan now.

"To be honest, I'm really not stressing at all. It's all a part of the journey. I don't really care where we are, they are all beautiful places."

Stewart said he was in Whanganui for Christmas in 2019, but had been in South America for the two years prior.

"I will for sure miss the family. We had a little camping trip planned for Christmas and the boys always have a pretty decent rinsing around then.

"As well as Mum's roast pork, for sure."

Logan Tutty
Whanganui Chronicle 24/12/20