Hey guys. So this is going to be the final entry in to this Lockdown Diary series…

Because New Zealand is officially out of the main period of lockdown! And I can travel again. First thing on the agenda is to get up to Auckland to retrieve my car. Which is proving more difficult than I’d hoped. Then I kind of need to find a job. So we will see how that goes. This will be the last in this series but don’t worry I have something special planned for next week. So keep an eye on your feed to see the conclusion to this series! On another point I have added an extra day to this week (don’t @ me!), this is to make the whole series an even 50 days. I hope you forgive me. 50 days is better than 49. Trust me. Anyway enough rambling.

Thanks for reading this blog and all the other blogs I have published.

Day 43 – Veggie Burrito, Guacamole and Corn Chips

Wake up. Need to pee. Pee. Get back in to bed. Scroll social media. Get up. Exercise. Run. 7km. Shower. Call Mum and Dad. Add Lauren to the call. Family calls are nice. Off to work. Only a few walnuts to unload today. Only takes 30 mins. Put my sheets on to wash. Empty my kitchen bin. Finish off Week 6’s blog. Post it. Hang my washing. Fine tune the blog. Almost lunch time. It’s nice and sunny. I add my blogs to the Phoenix Remix website and send the photos to Holly to add to them. Lunch time. Salad wrap with boiled eggs. I watch Rick and Morty whilst I eat. Guitar lesson time. I decided to go back to the lessons. Which I enjoy today. Draw a little Pokemon drawing before getting to work on Stuart’s website. It doesn’t take much thought so I call Lauren to chat to her for her birthday while I work. She goes to drink wine with her friends so I put on Do Go On to keep me entertained. Bring my washing in and make my bed. Make tea and eat a cupcake Wilma baked whilst reading and relaxing. Chop my veggies for dinner. Watch youtube. Put on Radiohead and cook dinner. Watch an Episode of a new show called The Sinner with Paige. It’s ok. I preferred You. The Empire Strikes Back is my Star Wars film tonight. I love this film. But I’m tired. I need sleep. So I pause the film and go to bed. I’ll finish it tomorrow.

Film – Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. This is one of my favourite Star Wars films. Actually probably one of my favourite films. Me and my fellow nerdy Star Wars friends James and Jon actually went to a huge secret cinema event for this film in London. We had to dress up as characters and complete story quests before sitting down to watch the film. The company had kitted out a whole warehouse to look like a set from the film. There were actors everywhere, food and drinks based around Star Wars and hundreds of other Star Wars fans. It was an awesome experience that I will never forget.
Music – Radiohead – Nude
Podcast – Do Go On Ep 236 The Forrest Fenn Treasure Hunt

Day 44 – Leftover Veggie Burrito

Wake up. Respond to messages. Get up. Exercise. Make tea. Back to bed. Watch youtube for a bit. Get up. Exercise. Shower. Make breakfast. Call Mum and Dad. Hear about their work in the garden. Finish my tea. Brush teeth. Off to work. I think these are the last walnuts that need washing! That’s it. The last of the harvest. Almost 13 tonnes of walnuts washed, sorted and dried. I finished early today. So I play guitar and read before lunch. Rick and Morty with my lunch again today. Thijs doesn’t want to play Kub so I cycle to the shop to get a few bits and pieces. Mainly wraps for dinner tonight. Time to do some work. I work on Stuarts website. Man Wix is annoying. I can’t seem to make it do what I want to do. I do 2 hours but I choose to stop before I throw my laptop out of the window. Time to chill for a bit before dinner. Make tea, watch Star Wars and eat a Cookietime. That’s better. I’m not annoyed anymore. I can’t believe the weather. It’s all wet and grey now. But before lunch I was sitting in the sun topless and reading. Dinner time. Leftovers from last night. They are so good. Listen to Radiohead while I wash up again. Put it on super loud. I start watching Return of the Jedi and get comfy. I’ve been wanting to edit an old photo from Milford Sound for a while as there is a boat in it that really annoys me. So I do that and post it on Instagram. Read a chapter in bed before falling asleep.

Film – Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. The main thing I remember about this film from when I was younger is the speeder bikes and the chase through the forest. I always wanted one of those bikes and I just loved the way the whole scene was shot. How fast the bikes looked like they were moving. I used to imagine that’s how it looked for other people when I was riding my bike around.
Music – Radiohead – Everything In It’s Right Place
Podcast – Do Go On Ep 235 Victor Lustig, The Man Who Sold The Eiffel Tower

Day 45 – Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli and mushrooms

Wake up. It’s bright out. The moon is huge. Exercise. Make tea. Call Mum and Dad. Go for a big run. 21km! It feels good. Hard but good. It’s the furthest and fastest I’ve run in a while. Stretch. Shower. Put on a load of laundry. Breakfast. I watch Rick and Morty with breakfast. Brush my teeth. Hang my laundry. Go and see if Nelson needs any help. He doesn’t. But we have a good chat about work and the future. I watch Youtube Photography tutorials before lunch. Another salad wrap. After lunch I sit in the sun and read for a while. Time for a guitar lesson. I should be doing some work but I can’t find the motivation. So I draw instead. A Spider-Man drawing. It turns out pretty well. Cancel my American Express card. I’m not even sure why I still have it. Time to bring my washing in. It’s not quite dry but Wilma is using the drier. It will have to wait. I’m feeling tired. That run really took it out of me. I set up my camera and take some self portraits for an idea I had while running this morning. I’m going to try and create a double exposure self portrait. Wish me luck. It turns out ok. Not quite what I wanted. I will try again tomorrow. Go and have a beer with Thijs and watch the news with him, Nelson and Wilma. Back to cook and eat my dinner whilst watching Rick and Morty. I don’t really remember this episode. After washing up I put on Killing Eve and chill. Tea and biscuits. More tea and chocolate. Time for bed. I’m exhausted.

Film – No film tonight. I don’t feel like it
Music – Damien Rice – It takes a lot to know a man
Podcast – No podcast today.

Day 46 – Leftover Pasta

Got woken at 4am. There was banging on my ceiling. Constant banging and scratching. I woke up dazed and confused. I didn’t know what was happening. I banged on the wall to see if it would stop. I turned on the lights. Still it continued. I got dressed and grabbed my head torch. Headed out in to the garage and up in to the loft. And there at the top of the stairs. A rat, half alive. With its nose trapped in a rat trap. Pulling it around on the floor and banging it. I put on my work gloves and took it outside to dispose of it. What a wonderful experience. Back to bed. Restless sleep until 7. Get up. Exercise. Shower. Finally finished my second loo roll of lockdown! On to my third. Call Mum and Dad and tell them all about the rat. Breakfast. I need to be more productive today. So I spend 2 hours working on Stuart’s website. Sit in the sun to read for a little bit. Then play guitar. Before going to have a BBQ for lunch with my family. The BBQ was nice. Thijs cooked sausages and salmon on the BBQ and we had salad to go with it. After I worked on a new travel guide blog. It should be pretty cool. I still want to keep drawing each day so I do a little drawing of BB8 from Star Wars. Still an hour before dinner so I have another go at the double exposure image. It’s getting better but still not great. Do two sets of exercise to complete my daily amount. Thijs invites me to watch Citizen K with them. First I have dinner. Then go to see what the film is like. I don’t like it so I leave halfway through. I did warn them it wasn’t for me. Hope they don’t think I’m rude. Back to my room. Make tea. Get biscuits and put on Killing Eve. Bed.

Film – Half of Citizen K. It wasn’t really for me
Music – Bon Ivor – Skinny Love
Podcast – Do Go On Ep 29 – Former Turkmenistan President Saparmurat Niyasov and his crazy antics and Ep 28 Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster

Day 47 – Stir Fry veg with rice

Wake up. No rat today. Get out of bed. Exercise. Run. My legs hurt. Only 6km. Don’t push yourself too hard. Shower. Breakfast. Call Mum and Dad. More exercise. Try to start working but lose motivation. Watch Youtube instead. Must start work! I do a little sketch idea trying to highlight my interests. Trying to hone in my blog and what makes me different. I work on my new photography blog for this week. Finding the best pictures for the job. Lunch time. I make guacamole again and add it to my salad wrap. There are a few corn chips leftover but they are a little stale. They still taste nice. Time for a quick guitar lesson. I almost have Skinny Love down now. Maybe I should start singing while playing. I challenge Thijs to a game of Kub and he accepts. I win again. What’s the score now? 7-3 to me? The sun is still shining. So I make tea and sit and read before going back to work. Leonie calls me and tells me about what’s happening with her. She is struggling with money and trying to find a job in lockdown. Hopefully she can find something soon. Otherwise she may have to go back to France. I carry on with my blog. It’s looking pretty good. Jason and Karen call me to catch up and talk about developing Jason’s website. Draw a little drawing of baby Groot for Paige. I have another go at the double exposure photo I’ve been working on and it looks much better now. Time for dinner. I don’t want to cook tonight. But I have to. Something simple and easy. Like usual really. New Zealand should be heading down to level 2 lockdown on Thursday. Which means I might be able to get my car. And leave here. But then I need to decide what I’m doing. Find a job. Watch a few episodes of the new series of Clone Wars. It’s meant to be really good. It’s pretty fun. Put on a movie. The Half of it. It’s pretty good. Eat chocolate. Drink tea. And go to bed

Film – The Half of It – Not what I was expecting from the brief trailer I watched. Quite a nice Rom Com from Netflix exploring sexuality in small town religious America
Music – Of Monster’s and Men – Dirty Paws
Podcast – None

Day 48 – Leftover stir fry veg with rice

Wake up. Exercise. Make tea. Go back to bed. Call Saga. Chat about work and her uni projects. What’s happening with the world etc. Get up. More exercise. Shower. Breakfast. More tea. Call mum and dad. Start working on Stuart’s website again. It’s looking better and I’m making real progress. I listen to the audiobook of Jurassic Park at the same time. Call Kiana before lunch and catch up with her. Her house was broken in to! It sounds crazy. Lunch. Tuna salad wrap today. I watch an episode of Clone Wars with lunch and then play guitar. Have a quick search for jobs but it all seems very overwhelming. Finish the blog I’ve been working on and post it to my website. Schedule a post about it on Facebook and work on some Pins to put on Pinterest for it. I draw a quick little sketch of Totoro before going for a little walk. I’ve been stuck inside all day. It’s been raining and hasn’t been very nice. The rain has stopped. So I seize the moment. Back indoors I make tea and read for a little while. I’ve been staring at my computer too much today. I call Paige and we chat about guitar/ukelele lessons and other random things. It’s nice not to always talk about Covid 19. Time for dinner, leftovers. I watch an episode of Star Wars the Clone Wars and then wash up. I play a game of Mario Cart against Paige before picking a film to watch tonight. Decide on Christoper Robin. The story about Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh when he’s older. I like it a lot. It makes me laugh a lot and reminds me of my childhood and my sister. My blog is shared online and people seem to like it which is nice. I finish an episode of the Clone wars and head to bed.

Film – Christopher Robin – A funny cute film which brought back loads of nostalgia. I always like Ewan McGregor in anything and there a few cameos from other British actors which I enjoyed.
Music – Radiohead – Karma Police
Podcast – Jurassic Park Audio Book

Day 49 – Leftover stir fry veg, rice and fried eggs

Wake up. Exercise. Run. 6km again. My legs feel better. Shower. Make breakfast. Call Mum and Dad. Not much to say today. More exercise. Work on my C.V. I need to start applying for jobs. I find an old CV online so I fix that up and make it more up to date. Need to start working out how to get my car and where I want to live until the world calms down a bit. I think I can get a transfer car up to Auckland to collect my car and then head South again. I’ve decided my next blog will try and include some Amazon affiliate links so I sign up to their affiliate program. It’s been on my list for a while so it’s good to get that done. Ticking stuff off my to do list! Stuart messages me back about his website so I do an hour of work on that before lunch. Another tuna salad wrap for lunch today. I should really go to the shops but I still can’t be bothered. After lunch I do my guitar lesson and draw a little cartoon of Deadpool. To be productive this afternoon I decide to do some Skillshare courses. I choose 2. Both on photography and more importantly editing photos. I learn quite a bit from both and make some notes. Paige calls and we chat for a bit. I read for a bit before dinner. Reheat the last of my vegetables. Boil up some rice and add 2 fried eggs. I’ll have to go shopping tomorrow morning. As I now have no food other than porridge left. With dinner I watch Clone Wars. Finish eating and wash up. Watch a Netflix film called See you yesterday. It’s a film about time travel and has Michael J Fox as a science teacher at the beginning which makes me smile. Apart from that it’s pretty average. Watch more Clone Wars and Youtube before bed.

Film – See you Yesterday. An Ok Netflix film. Nothing amazing and quite cheesy at times
Music – Frank Turner – I am disappeared
Podcast – The Weekly Planet Ep 334 Boba Fett is back!

Day 50 – Fish and Veggies

Wake up. The struggle is real. I don’t want to get out of bed. I manage to get up. Exercise. Shower. Make breakfast. Call mum and dad. Lauren calls. We chat for a while. Thijs comes over to invite me to dress smart to get some new running shoes. We will go later today. Brush teeth. More exercise. Time to start doing some work. Try to log in to Jason’s website but I can’t. I’ll do some work for Stuart instead. I need some food for lunch so I cycle to the shop. It’s really cold. My fingers are frozen. I get home and unpack my shopping. Damn. I forgot to get milk. I’ll have to go back tomorrow or another day. Jess and Carice call. It’s nice to talk to them. We discuss my plans. Hopefully I will stay with them next weekend. Back to working on Stuart’s website. It’s really starting to bother me. It’s very annoying working on Wix. I stop for lunch and watch Star Wars. I think this is going to be the last day of this blog. Nice to finish things off on 50 days. Time for my guitar lesson. Still struggling with complex strumming patterns. Draw a picture of baby Han Solo and Chewbacca. It turns out pretty well. It makes me smile. I work on this blog for a while before Thijs comes to get me and we go shopping. We head to dress smart to look for running shoes. I pick up a pair in New Balance. Not as cheap as I was hoping. But still I needed new shoes. On the way back we stop at Foursquare so I grab the Oat Milk I forgot earlier. Back home and I’m not sure if I’m having dinner on my own or with my family. I will have to see what Thijs says. I end up going for dinner. It’s nice. We eat, have beer and chat. After we eat chocolate and chat some more. I’m not feeling super social so I head back to my room to watch Star Wars before bed.

Film – No film
Music – Angie McMahon – Pasta (this song sums up my lockdown I think. I’ve listened to it so many times)
Podcast – No podcast

Thanks for reading my lockdown blog. What have you been doing in your lockdown? Comment below.

Cheers

Paul