The cogs of life in Dunedin’s city centre have started to turn again as the South gets back to business.
In the CBD the most obvious sign this was the first day of alert level 2 was the long line of men waiting in an orderly queue outside Selwyn Grave Barber on Moray Pl.
Troy Sime-Young, who was near the back of the line, said he had been waiting 30 minutes.
He reckoned his hair was too long and he was itching for a fade enough that getting a haircut was the first thing he wanted to do at level 2.
His friend Ben Smith was also in dire need of a haircut because the last people who cut it before lockdown "stuffed it up".
He was also getting a fade.
A smattering of people (some wearing face masks) can be seen making their way in different directions around the Octagon, while small clumps of people can be seen queuing outside hairdressers and beauty salons.
Some cafes are also starting to serve coffee and food inside now, rather than have people queue on the footpath outside.
GoBus driver Ron Turner said he had been working throughout Alert Levels 3 and 4, and said the streets were much busier today.
In terms of bus services, he said some were getting close to pre-Covid-19 passenger numbers.
However, he believed all bus routes would return to normal passenger numbers on Monday when schools reopened.
Only UR’s Beauty Parlour owner Jasmeet Madan was excited about reopening his business, for the first time since the lockdown.
"The economy is going to run again. That’s what we’ve been looking forward to.
"All the staff members have started work again. This is what everyone wants.’’
He said the business usually served 80-100 people per day, and he believed it would not take long for customers to come flooding back.
Many had gone without their beauty needs for nearly two months.
"We’re expecting some pretty horrid sights to come in.’’
In another sign things were returning somewhere close to normal Lime scooters were back on the street again.
Queenstown
Meanwhile, in Queenstown this morning - the epicentre of the effects of Covid-19 on the economy - there was already a sense of pre-lockdown life resuming with a noticeably busier town centre.
Skyline's gondola cabins, absent from Bob's Peak since the end of March, have been reattached to the line and were slowly meandering their way up to the base building, and for the first time in about seven weeks, music was coming from bars and restaurants, including Red Rock, which is opening its doors for dining, and car parks were beginning to fill up.
The Queenstown Water Ferries are back on Lake Wakatipu today; however, capacity has been halved to maintain and manage physical distancing and will follow an improved, but less frequent, route between Queenstown and
the Hilton.
The $2 Orbus network, still operating for free, is limiting capacity to 25% of normal. It is not permitting standing passengers at present.
Central Otago
Day one of Level 2 in Central Otago dawned frosty but that did not deter those looking to lose their lockdown locks in Alexandra.
A queue of about 10 people formed outside Main Street Barbers in Tarbert St from 8.30am before the barbershop opened, much to the bemusement of other businesses in the street as they prepared to open in the pared down fashion required under Level 2 rules.
Traffic levels were little higher than they were under Level 3, reflective of the nature of the workforce in the district with the majority having already returned to work prior to the move to Level 2.
In the Central Otago tourist hub of Clyde the township remained bereft of visitors, yet the cafes were still setting up the outdoor tables from 8.30am in anticipation of a return to business - almost - as usual.
Oamaru
In Oamaru, the first day of alert level 2 got off to a subdued start.
While there was a noticeable increase in the amount of traffic on the roads around the town's central business district, foot traffic was light.
There were no large queues outside hair salons or cafes, though a handful of people did get in early to grab a coffee ahead of the likely mid-morning rush.
It was also a chance for people to connect.
Two strangers waiting in line to use an ATM machine in Thames St chatted about the relief of being able to break their bubbles and get back to some sense of normality.
Invercargill
In Invercargill, the signs things are returning to some semblance of life before lockdown were evident.
Those who had been travelling to work during the lockdown, noticed a considerable difference in commute time, with a constant stream of traffic in the inner city during the day creating a steady purr of engine noise.
People sat in cafes enjoying food and coffee with companions or long-seen friends and shops which had been sitting dark for the past seven weeks, were once again illuminated - an indication of we're open for business.
Shoppers shuffled the streets laden with bags displaying the logos of businesses, with the queue outside the Spark retail shop on Dee St contained about seven people patiently waiting their turn to enter the building.
