Monthly Archives: März 2011

I managed to get two bonus bins of apples, plus I got given an hour’s wage for time we had to spend all doing a row of apples together because one of the bosses missed it. All up I earned $107.50 before tax – I’m trying to ignore the fact that it’s half of nothing. It’s a hard life these days ;o) Shot another rabbit, either it’ll end up on the barbecue or I can trade it for some other meat. Nothing against rabbit, it is very tasty, but everyday? I wouldn’t mind some change of meat in the menu.

My career as an apple picker is going to take off. Today I picked with one of the experienced guys and he showed me some tricks with the ladder and how to get faster. I was awfully afraid that I’d slow him down and that’s not good when you get paid per bin. I didn’t do too badly though and I learned a lot. Back home I had a long shower, cleaned the terrace and put the next homemade bread on it’s way into the oven. Later I will go rabbit shooting, maybe today I’m lucky and can have fresh meat supplies. I think life here is like it used to be in the old days. Long days with handy work, coming home to prepare your own food and do some hunting. It’s exhausting but I like it. Ok in the past they didn’t have such nice things like the … Continue reading →

Another long day in the orchard is over. Apple picking is a fucking hard and poorly paid job. Today we did “real” picking – you have to watch which apples you pick, they have to have the right colour and no defects on them. The pay still works out to be much better than juice apples though – in addition to much more fruit on the tree you get paid twice as much per bin if you pick good apples and get a bonus. I picked my first bonus bin in under 3 hours – not too bad. Unfortunately in the afternoon it was worse. It was the first pick in another block and most of the apples were not ripe or they were sunburned and therefore not good quality. This time I got no bonus bin. Luckily I get paid on hours today, so it doesn’t really matter. In … Continue reading →

Today is my first day working in an orchard. C., the woman with the bus and now my colleague, brought me in. She is a Quality Controller and has worked in the orchards for seven years now. Apple picking is exhausting but I can manage. The first day of picking was on juice apples. This is the last pick of the tree after they have taken all of the good stuff off it already. What is left is stripped off the tree and sent off to be made into stuff like fruit drinks and cider. It’s not worth as much as the good apples of course, so you get paid less to do it. At least you don’t need to be careful or bother looking at the apples – you just strip the tree! When you are picking you have to wear a picker’s bucket – it’s something like a … Continue reading →

Today we went rabbit shooting. Got two rabbits! The first one I hit with the third shot and somewhere in the belly but luckily the bullet missed the guts, otherwise you couldn’t use the meat. The other one I hit with the first shot right in the head, perfect! After one day’s practise not bad at all. One rabbit will go to C. as a thankyou gift for the carpet. The other one provides me with enough meat for the next days. The appartment is almost finished. J., a friend in Hastings, cut the rest of the MDF board for me, so I got two new shelves for the kitchen. C., another neighbour and daughter of the family, provided me with new cups, a bowl, a duvet, more linen for the bed, some jars for flour and coffee storage and some baking tins. With them I can bake my own … Continue reading →

I have a very interesting neighbour – C. She lives in a really big and awesome bus which she has renovated, extended and otherwise added to over the last 18 years. She doesn’t have a house or any fixed address, just the bus. When you first come through the door, it feels like a real apartment, there is a dining table and seating area that sits over top of where you normally sit to drive the bus, then there is a kitchen, complete with fridge, oven and sink, followed by a lounge area with a TV and couch. Last but not least there are two, yes two, bedrooms. One of the bedrooms is right down the back and the other one is up a ladder in a custom built extension. Of course C. also got to tour through my apartment and see all the improvements that I have made myself. … Continue reading →