Covid-19: Whangārei freedom camping couple spread kindness

Sharon and Fred Sinclair spread kindness to people waiting at Pohe Island's Covid testing station earlier this week. Photo / Tania Whyte

People stuck in hour-long queues in high heat at a Whangārei Covid testing station had their woes salved by the kindness of a local freedom camping couple.

Sharon Sinclair, 69, and her husband Fred, 65, have spent 18 years following the road around the country in their house bus, Shafrelair - a blend of their names.

The Whangārei couple's current Pohe Island parking spot had them thrust in the midst of the week's covid testing chaos where the only thing spreading was their kindness towards people in the queue.

"It just comes naturally to us," Sinclair said.

She and Fred reached out to a mother, who was queued for nine hours with her 18-month-old baby, and offered her the use of the bus to seek some cool comfort.

Her altruistic streak came to the forefront as she tried to ease people's burdens with ice blocks, glasses of water, or just a bit of distracting chit chat.

"It was so hot it all probably helped keep their minds off the heat," Sinclair said. "I didn't have any milk so couldn't offer any coffees."

Fred helped jump-start someone's car when the battery ran dead.

The couple originally owned a home in Raumanga. But after the stress of working onerous jobs around the clock put Fred in hospital for three days, they opted to sell up and enjoy a more leisurely pace of life on the road.

"Fred was driving 13 hours a day and then he'd come home and work in the warehouse," Sinclair said. "If I had to care for him we wouldn't have been able to afford our mortgage. It's been the best decision - we would never go back to a house."

They have journeyed their way around the country five times tallying adventures as they went.

"We worked on the Narnia movies, that was pretty interesting," Sinclair said.

A month in one spot at Pohe Island was starting to give them itchy feet. But their next adventure depends on how the latest Covid community transmission unfolds.