Local Lady, Stranded in New Zealand During Pandemic, Lands Herself a Lockdown Fellow

Carol and Al, in a self-portrait. (Credit Courtesy)

During the pandemic, NHPR has received hundreds – if not thousands – of emails from listeners. People have written in expressing frustration with the government, or school closures, or to sing the praises of the National Guard and healthcare workers.

One recent email stood out for where it was sent from: an Epping, New Hampshire woman named Carol Clapp writing from halfway around the globe.

“I have been stuck in New Zealand on the bottom of the South Island in a town called Riverton for the past year and a half because of the coronavirus,” Clapp told NHPR during a Zoom interview last week.

“Yeah, there are birds. And that’s a gum tree, a eucalyptus behind me,” she said while seated in the sunshine on her back porch.”

Read the rest of the story at NHPR’s website.