The coronavirus threat in New Zealand is ‘like a bad horror film’, fishers say, and they’re heading to sea to get away from it.
Sanford Fisheries has been deemed an essential service during New Zealand’s pending lockdown, and the fishers can’t wait to get out to sea.
On Tuesday Taylah Pilcher, a general hand on a fishing trawler, was waiting to board the Interislander to get to Timaru before all domestic travel is banned.
“I never thought I’d be so happy to see work again.”
Driving from the far north to Timaru where she will sail from had been daunting, she said.
“I am on the luckier side, and I get to leave land and be away from this, and do my own self-isolation.”
Pilcher said she would’ve wanted to have stayed on land, but now that the country is preparing for lockdown, she is eager to leave.
“It’s like a bad horror film,” she said.
“My job is basically my everything at the moment.”
She felt fortunate to be considered an essential worker in these times, she said.
All those heading out to sea will be tested for the coronavirus before sailing. Until she goes, Pilcher said she must self-isolate.
Six weeks away was a normal time to be out fishing, she said.
If she returned in six weeks to find the country still in lockdown, Pilcher said she could stay on her boat for a break, or go back out to sea.
“Once we’re on the boats, we’re out there for until the end of the lockdown,” she said.
“If the lockdown is still in place we’ll go back out.”
Pilcher was one of the hundreds of people queuing to get on the Interislander Ferry to the South Island from Wellington on Tuesday morning.
On Tuesday evening, the Government extended their deadline for domestic travel, as New Zealanders struggle to get home due to limited flights and ferry services.
Pilcher said she would keep an eye on what’s happening at home.
“We have internet in the boat, and if we’re in reception we will still get the news.”
2020 Stuff Limited