I left WGC at the end of 2019 with the intention of spending the following year working in a school in England, the typical Kiwi OE. However, this was cut 9 months short due to the effects of the global pandemic.

I distinctly remember the first time I heard about Covid, it was late January and the boarding house matron could not believe I hadn't heard anything about it before then.  Because I'm a hypochondriac, I began to panic, however the fact I have lived in New Zealand my entire life meant that usually my panic is irrational.  

The next two months were a bit of a wake up call in that way!  All plans of travelling around Europe were quickly scrapped.  I managed to fit in one trip to Holland before we went into lockdown, but the two months of travelling in summer had to be postponed until next year.  

Once Prime Minister Jacinda Adern announced the alert levels I made a quick decision, along with the other gap students, to return home.  Within 3 days I was at Heathrow Airport.  

I returned to New Zealand the day before we went into Level 4 lockdown.  About a week later, when my 'jetlag' didn't improve and I had lost my sense of smell, I decided to call Healthline.  After testing I returned a positive for Covid-19; case 498!  

I have spent the last few months working in a café and have flights booked to head back to the UK in January.  I hope my next gap year will last a little longer.  Bring on 2021.