2021 has been a long and hard year for all.
Stories of Covid-19 have hijacked dinner table conversations, group chats and whānau zuis. It’s been on our news feeds and our TV screens for so long, any other events from the year feel like very distant memories.
Here’s a refresher with some of the moments you may have forgotten:
March: Tsunami scare in Te Tairāwhiti
A powerful 8.1 magnitude earthquake which struck near the Kermadec Islands in March prompted a tsunami evacuation warning for much of the North Island's east coast. Footage of what appeared to be tsunami waves reaching Tokomaru Bay was shared on social media. Luckily, no waves made landfall, and all tsunami warnings were eventually cancelled.
April: Minimum wage was raised
The Government raised New Zealand’s minimum wage in April. It went up $1.10 an hour to $20.The training and starting-out minimum wages also increased to $16.00 per hour, remaining at 80 per cent of the adult minimum wage.
May: Toddler shenanigans
No, it’s not just a goat, “that’s a f***ing goat”. A video of Christchurch toddler Ivy Smith swearing about a four-legged intruding being in her backyard racked up millions of views on TikTok earlier this year, in just a couple of days.
Brave three-year-old Axle Hamblyn went missing from his rural Mangatuna home one afternoon in May, and was found the next day among rough terrain near Tolaga Bay. The man who found the boy said he was “very disorientated and calling out to his mum”. Axle told the man he had slept in the dark “but wasn’t scared”.
July: Matariki, flooding, and Toa the stranded orca
The recommended public holiday dates for Matariki, for the next 30 years, were announced in July. New Zealand will celebrate the Māori New Year as a public holiday for the first time on June 24, 2021.
Heavy rain to parts of the South Island caused severe flooding in areas like Buller and Marlborough. Flood flows measured on the West Coast's Buller River were the largest recorded in New Zealand in almost a century. Meanwhile Marlborough’s recovery due to fall out from the wild weather is still ongoing.
A baby orca affectionately named by rescuers as Toa sadly died in July. He swam into the hearts of many New Zealanders, after being separated from his pod in Plimmerton. Toa needed round-the-clock care after being away from his mother, and was looked after by a number of volunteers before he died.
August: ...
Nope.
Nothing to see here.
September: KFC and cash
Two gang associates were arrested after being caught at Auckland’s border with over $100k cash, and a car boot full of KFC. Sadly, a police spokesperson told 1News the KFC was discarded.
October: Big lotto win
A Pōkeno family claimed October’s massive $42 million Lotto Powerball win, only realising they had scored the big prize after reading the news. It's the second-biggest Lotto prize ever won in New Zealand after a Hibiscus Coast couple walked away with $44 million in 2016.
2021 special mention:
Dr Ashley Bloomfield busting a move at one of the many Super Saturday vaccination drive events would have to be a 2021 highlight. He was filmed by Labour MP Barbara Edmonds dancing to Roimata in Cannons Creek.
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