(upbeat music)
- Well, it's my second to last day in this MIQ hotel.
We just had our day five COVID test.
Once more fingers crossed for negative.
And I haven't heard anything
about anyone else in the hotel testing positive or anything.
And we got this little slip in
with our breakfast this morning, if it'll focus.
So it seems like we're all
on track to be leaving on the right day.
If they're, they're telling us this.
It's like a gloomy day outside, it's meant to rain actually.
And I'm just hoping that it holds
off until I'm done with my outdoor time.
Only one spot today at one o'clock.
And it is currently at 10 past 10.
I started feeling really homesick last night.
I don't know.
It's just, it's tough being in here.
And I have family on, you know, opposite sides of the world.
There's my partner and my cats in Spain.
And then my parents, my sister, all my relatives here
in New Zealand.
So I mean, you know, it's always tough to have
families split in two places, but right now in here
I'm like with none of them.
So that kind of sucks.
Anyway, just two more days to make it through.
And then I get to be with my family here
in New Zealand and that will help for sure.
Here's some cute pictures of my cats that I was looking
at last night when I was missing them though.
I think I'm gonna start the day by cleaning my hotel room
because I mean, it's a bit of a state and like I said
in the first vlog, this is not, I mean, it's a hotel where
it's not regular housekeeping or anything like that.
Okay. Let grab my cleaning supplies, show you what
I've got in here.
Also, why is this on a lean?
Slightly better?
This is the whole cleaning bucket that I got delivered when
I just asked for dish soap to clean my plate.
So we have some cloths, we have dust pan and brush.
We have a surface cleaner, bathroom spray, toilet cleaner,
and toilet brush.
So yeah, let's clean a hotel room, I guess.
And then we can get with some work for the day.
(upbeat music)
(music tempo increasing)
Room is clean, had a shower, feeling a lot better.
Now I'm going to get into some work for the day
at the company I work for Convert Kit,
we actually have this week off work, which is wonderful.
They decided to do like a company wide holiday for in
between Christmas and New Year's to give everyone a bit
of a break.
But because I took extra time out last week
for like traveling here to get here, I have a few things to
catch up on before the new year and I have someone new
joining my team.
So that's really exciting.
And I wanna make sure that his onboarding is all in place.
So I think I'm actually gonna put my headphones on
and listen to some music.
Cuz I also realized that I haven't really
done that recently.
And music is a huge like mood booster for me.
So I think I might be feeling like a little bit blah
because I've not really been doing that.
So yeah.
Time to put on some feel good tunes and do a little bit
of work for (inaudible)
(upbeat music)
Well, I mean it's raining, but I'm gonna go out
for my outside time anyway.
I think it's gonna be cold
so I'm going to put my hoodie on.
(upbeat music)
Today they've changed the direction that we're walking in,
but I feel like it's been a little confusing
cuz we're all so used to walking around the other way.
(upbeat music)
Well, it definitely rained out there at one point
and got quite wet.
I'm going to have a shower now, maybe wash my hair and then
get back on with doing some work.
I'm pretty excited about today's snack.
I chose the crunchy bar from the like snack list
and it is massive.
So this should be my afternoon sugar high. I guess.
I'm sitting here trying to decide
if I should order a bottle of wine.
I finished the one that mom, dad brought up
for me last night.
The one that I opened on Christmas day.
I'm gonna poll my family.
Should I order a bottle of wine from the hotel?
Well, the family says I should.
So I'm gonna. Today is just going so slow.
I feel like I would like to have a nice treat
myself evening.
Hi Connor.
I'd like to order a bottle of wine
please. I'm gonna go for the Shiraz.
- [Narrator] A few moments later.
- Well that was quick.
We have our Shiraz. The man just knocked on my door
and then I noticed he was still standing out there
as I opened it.
Whereas normally they were just like knock and they're like
lunch is here, breakfast is here, whatever.
But obviously he didn't wanna
like leave this out in the hallway
for someone else to take it or something like that.
So here we have a bottle
of Graham Norton Shiraz.
I have no idea what this is gonna taste like.
If it's any good or...
And I also have no idea how much it just costs me.
I just realized that, but we're gonna do an hour's more work
and then I will open this and watch some more Superstore.
Maybe we can get through season five today.
(bass music playing)
(wine bottle opening)
(pop music begins)
Tonight's dinner is pasta with veggies.
While I eat my dinner tonight
I thought it might be fun to answer some questions
that you all have about managed isolation.
Cause I know this is a very weird situation to be in.
So I posted on my stories and also on Twitter.
And let's see what you all wanna know.
How often are you tested for COVID?
So far we've been tested like every second day,
three tests total
while we're in here for the, for the seven days
then I have to get my own test on day nine.
So that's the day after I get
to my sister's house for my self isolation.
Cuz you have to do seven days
in this hotel and then three days home isolation.
How are you managing your time?
How are you keeping track of time?
I am not.
How are you finding sleeping?
Given you are in the same room all day, every day.
Mm, good question, Emma.
I didn't actually think
about that potentially being the issue
but I haven't had great sleep since I got here.
I thought it was just jet lag and I'm sure a big part
of it is that, but yeah, being in the same room all day
every day is probably a factor as well.
I'm very, very glad to have this desk area though.
Cuz where I've been sitting and like working during the day.
I think that if I was sitting on the bed to do my work
then I would be having a much tougher time.
What's the pricing breakdown like, oh good question.
Let me get the booklet.
So you have to pay for MIQ
if you are returning to New Zealand
for a period of less than 180 days.
So less than six months, which I am.
So that's why I have to pay for it.
And the cost now that it is just one week used to be two.
So the costs were higher
but the cost for me is 1,610 New Zealand dollars.
What is that
in currency that I understand these days?
That's 968 euros or like 1,100 US dollars.
If my partner had been able to come as well
then it would've been only an extra $460
for him to stay in the same room as me.
But when Matt asked about the pricing breakdown
they also said, for example, did you have to pay extra
for the metal cutlery in episode one?
And no I didn't.
That's like something that's included everything so far.
Apart from the wine that order today
everything that you've seen has been included.
So your MIQ fee gets you the room,
it gets you all your meals, laundry twice
in the week.
Tea, coffee, the COVID tests.
Part of that email thread that I was talking about in
I can't remember what day's vlog that was now.
Was it only yesterday?
But part of what the person was complaining
about in that is that the fee is the same for MIQ
no matter what hotel you are in.
And so there are some hotels that are like four star
five star hotels, super fancy with like great city views.
So we kind of got a little bit unlucky being put
in this three star,
one in Rotorua where there's not like a whole, I don't know,
I mean the hotel room is pretty basic.
It's fine, but it's pretty basic.
So I don't know.
Maybe that person was just a little bit like sore over that.
But you're paying for like
I don't know this whole setup, right?
It's the, the time and for the organization
and all the people who are running the place
cuz there is like, you know
security here as well as the hotel staff preparing our meals
and like all those sorts of things.
Diana asked, must you always stay in your room?
Or are there places you can go with in the hotel?
Like for snacks or something, if you keep testing negative.
And the answer is pretty much, no, you must always stay
in your room unless it is your outside time.
Like I showed you the timetable in
in yesterday's vlog and maybe something I didn't make clear
in that vlog is that the outside time is in a secure area.
Like you saw that I could only walk
around the car park in circles. Right?
And then today the circles going the other way
and people were getting confused.
I don't know if you saw in the background
but there were like people
from the New Zealand army.
They're guarding the place
and making sure that no one escapes
because that literally has happened.
Yes. People have escaped from MIQ.
And so yeah
they're keeping things very tightly locked down.
Cause obviously the whole point of it is to keep people here
for the required time so that we can make sure
that no cases are entering the community.
I'm trying not to think about that side
of the things too much, you know, being locked in here
essentially.
Cory asked other than creating videos,
are you flexing any other creative muscles right now
or just chilling?
I wanted to flex more. I think.
I had great plans to flex more
as you heard me talk about the other day
and I did edit that office tour video that went well.
But for the most part, I just
I feel pretty burnt out right now, honestly.
And I was meant to be working this week.
Like the whole week I did work like about a half day today
but I was meant to be working like a regular work week
and I'm so, so glad that that didn't have to happen.
That my company went on a, you know
company wide holiday this week,
cuz I just would not have had the energy
or the focus to do that.
It's hard to explain why, because I mean
I'm just hanging out in this hotel room, right.
But it's after a stressful journey,
you know traveling 48 hours
across the world right now was really anxiety inducing.
This whole situation is pretty anxiety inducing, you know
waiting for the test result.
Hoping that no one else on the plane tested positive
so we have to stay longer.
I don't know.
It's just, yeah, I don't feel super relaxed
and I don't feel super focused.
And so I have spent a lot of time watching Superstore
and just trying to like
give myself grace with that basically.
Alyssa says, do I have to quarantine separately when
you go back to Spain?
Right now no. Spain doesn't have quarantining rules
at this point in time I believe, but who knows?
I'm sure if it did happen
it would just be a, a self isolation at home anyway.
Sophie says, what's one thing you'd like to receive
in MIQ that people might not think of.
Actually I think we answer that one tomorrow.
Tomorrow is my last full day here in, in isolation in MIQ.
And I wanna talk
about the things I was happy to have with with me,
what I would recommend, give tips, things like that.
So I'll do some reflecting on that tomorrow morning
and hit you with the answer to that Sophie,
in tomorrow's vlog, if you've got more questions
leave them in the comments and I'll get to them.
But I'm trying to like cover each general part
of the MIQ through this vlog series.
So yeah, hopefully you've been enjoying them.
Check out what we've got dessert tonight.
Is this called a Belgian slice elsewhere in the world?
Or is it a very New Zealand thing to call it that?
I don't know, but it's one of my favorites.
It's like strawberry and shortbready and yum.
Anyway, I'm gonna go back to watching inside
while I eat the rest of my dinner.
But thanks for joining me for day five.
This was the hardest day so far I've been in like
I don't know, not a great mental state today
and I'm sure the vlog has felt a little bit chaotic
because of that.
But yeah, very excited
that tomorrow's the last day,
get two outside slots tomorrow.
Hopefully it'll be sunny enough
that I can sit on the grass and read again.
Cuz that really helped.
Yeah. Thanks for joining me.
And I will see you tomorrow.
Same time, same place, same freaking hotel room.
(upbeat music)