Covid 19 Delta outbreak: Queenstown family recreates Queen album cover to beat lockdown blues

A Queenstown family in lockdown decided to re-enact one of their favourite album covers. Photo / Jonty Norton

All they really want to do is break free, spread their wings, be able to easy come and easy go, ride their bicycle wherever they like, or maybe even play a game with friends — actually, they want it all.

But the Covid-19 alert level restrictions will not let them.

So Roger Norton, wife Gillian Macleod and their children Jonty and Myfanwy decided to re-enact one of their favourite album covers instead.

Macleod said they chose the Queen II album cover because the family is from Queenstown.

Gillian Macleod, Roger Norton, Myfanwy Norton and Jonty Norton re-enacting the Queen II album cover. Photo / Jonty Norton

"We're having a daily photo competition amongst our extended family, who live in Australia and Auckland and Queenstown.

"Everyone loves a bit of humour — especially if it's humour at other people's expense. It's schadenfreude."

She said they had been particularly lucky that Jonty and Myfanwy were down from Auckland on a skiing trip when the lockdown was announced.

It meant the family was together in lockdown and that they could use Jonty's photography expertise in the competition.

He is a content designer for a digital agency, and took the photo on his camera using a timer.

Macleod said choosing an album cover to re-enact had not been easy.

"The competition closes about 9pm every day, and at about 8.30pm we were scrambling around saying, 'What should we do?"'

It was Jonty who came up with the solution — Queen.

"We just moved all the furniture, got the wigs out and in about 10 minutes, we had re-enacted the Queen II cover," she said.

The family had already created other re-enactments over the past week, including nursery rhymes, garden fantasies and the artworks of famous painters.

The original Queen II album was released in 1974.

The next competition was to see who could photograph the best movie scene re-enactment.

"We haven't quite worked out what that will be yet either."

It was hoped there would be a prize for the overall winners at the end — such as a nice bottle of wine.

"The wine would be lovely, but I think the best prize would be just getting together with family and friends again," she said.