On December 31, 2019 Taiwan instituted travel controls on passengers arriving from Wuhan. The rest is history.
That day I was blissfully unaware of all of it on the East Cape of the North Island of New Zealand. Tourists don’t go there. Many Kiwis don’t go there, either, which means it is the perfect place to go. I had just finished up a 4 day backpacking trip in Te Urewera.
Prior to 2020, going to New Zealand was like stepping back in time where kids are raised much like I was in the US in the 80s.
The East Cape is an even more New Zealand form of New Zealand. If you’ve seen Taika Waititi’s movie Boy, you’ll know what I mean, because it was at least partly filmed there.
There’s a lot of grinding poverty, so I’m not trying to glamorize it. But it’s also a place where kids under age 10 ride horses bareback on the beach free from adult supervision. I’ve even seen children as young as four playing alone with each other in New Zealand, along the coastline.
I had a somewhat similar childhood on a lakeside, and these days I feel a keen sense of loss for those who have had their childhoods stolen by the safety cult.
In the wee hours of the morning on January 1, 2020 — a few hours after I took the shots in this movie — I would climb out of bed and drive an hour to the East Cape Lighthouse, the easternmost point in the world (besides the Chatham Islands, of course).
At that point, I was looking forward to the future. I’m so glad I dragged myself out of bed that morning. It was very special to be among the first few hundred humans to greet the sunrise in 2020, even though we didn’t know what lay ahead.
Once in awhile, I allow myself some nostalgia to remember how carefree life felt on the literal eve of all of this.
So, here it is, in all its splendor and innocence. Enjoy.
On the Eve of the New Normal