There's not doubt we're living in unprecedented times, but who'd ever thought they'd be ordering food at their local cafe through an air-tight make-shift pipe ordering system?
Owner of Rangiora's Crema Cafe, Bill Carter, came up with the safest method for placing and receiving orders possible as the business opened again after six weeks shut down during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since opening again under Alert Level 3, they've been overwhelmed with customers, which Mr Carter said was "quite humbling" and "a great relief".
But in order to protect his own bubble and his customers, many of whom are older, Mr Carter has used some Kiwi ingenuity to make the business completely contactless.
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"We worked with what we had and realised we had to keep our bubble in tact," he said.
"Early research and information I found was that it [the coronavirus] was airborne so it's crucial we look after our self."
He repurposed an old commercial dishwasher and glass from a door to create an air-tight delivery box system for people to pick up their takeaways, and used a guttering pipe, a funnel and Gladwrap to make a contactless ordering system.
No air from the outside can get in, and vice versa, Mr Carter said.
He's even got pins for people to use the Eftpos machine without touching the buttons if they don't have paywave, with a bucket of bleach below for them to be cleaned in after each use.
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As well, Mr Carter and his wife Chika are the only ones inside the cafe. They usually have one full-time and one part-time worker who are both being paid through the Government's wage subsidy scheme.
"It's been working alright, but we're pretty flat out," Mr Carter said.
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