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The near quiet of Alexandra’s lockdown was shattered yesterday with the sound of one lone, mobile protester.
However the reason for her protest was not what you would expect, such as anti-lockdown.
Alexandra woman Damianne Wells parked her blue Daihatsu Sirion with signage which read ‘Can you hear us!!’ outside Unichem Alexandra Pharmacy on Centennial Ave at 12.30pm.
The pharmacy is open as an essential service and is operating as a vaccination centre.
The protest was not an anti-vaccination or anti-mask-wearing protest either, but in support of Groundswell NZ, following on from the Howl of a Protest last month.
The organisation was asking people to ‘‘toot’’ their support for farmers for two minutes every Friday afternoon for the next three weeks, before a larger nationwide protest in November.
Mrs Wells, who worked as an office administrator, said she had chosen the town monument for her protest as it was in the centre of town, and planned to continue for the next three weeks.
‘‘It has nothing to do with Covid,’’ she said.
She had prepared her signage before the Alert Level 4 lockdown was announced so had added a note to it letting people know she was in a bubble and asking them to please not approach her vehicle.
People lined up outside the pharmacy were confused, believing the protest to be about Alert Level 4 lockdown restrictions, and one witness contacted the Otago Daily Times about an anti-mask protest.