Archiv für den Monat: Mai 2011

I had my first day pruning today which meant going back to Flaxmere. It’s ok, the people I am getting a ride with seem ok and I can leave Harry up on their property off the street. Apart from saving lots of money on petrol it also means I can sleep for almost an extra half an hour in their car while we drive out to the vineyards. Didn’t do too bad with the pruning either – I finished 93 plants at $1.10 a plant which I’m sure will go up much more with practice. It was great to be … Continue reading →

This week I worked in the glasshouses all week and had my last day on Friday. It was a great week and the people there were really nice. I did all sorts of different things, planting, weeding and winding cucumbers up their wires. The staff were so nice that one of them, C., even lent me her pruning gear and gumboots for me to use doing grape pruning for the next month or two. The only shit thing that happened was someone went into the staff area while we were all busy working and stole everyone’s tobacco. All of my … Continue reading →

To get away early for a weekend trip to Lake Taupo I tried to finish work at 3:00 o’clock on Friday – of course it didn’t really work and late as always I started the 2.5 hour drive into the mountains. I stayed in a lovely little holiday house in a small town called Turangi further around the lake from the main tourist town Taupo. It was really nice with a big warm fireplace and wooden floors and it barely cost any more than a backpackers, great! On Saturday I did the Tongariro crossing – a day walk over a … Continue reading →

Got work in the Glasshouses and so can stay one week longer in the company. „The Glasshouses“ are a big area with glasshouses and fields, where they grow all sorts of veggies. My first job is to weed a big field of broccoli and cauliflower. I hated weeding when I was a child and now I do it voluntarily.

What a crap day today! First of all they made me pack in the morning instead of picking. Packing is boring and it gets paid on hours so I make less money because I miss out on picking the granny smith apples again. The packing finished at lunch and then I went back to the orchard where I had of course lost my ladder and had to spend half an hour finding it before being told we couldn’t pick anyway because they had the wrong bins – awesome! We ended up changing orchards and picking juice which we didn’t even … Continue reading →

I’m sitting in front of Apollo Pack and waiting for C. to pick me up. She’ll take me to Ohiti to do the final juice pick there – the days with the good money are all over, only juice is left. The days with the Vanuatu gang are over as well, they had their last day yesterday and will leave on Friday. They are going to the South Island to watch a rugby game and then do some pruning work. It’s sad, so many weeks picking together made us all friends. It took so long in the beginning for them … Continue reading →

I had the day off sick today – my right arm is completely fucked. I’ve been working in an office too long. The Internet says that I have cubital tunnel which is when a nerve gets pinched in the elbow. It usually happens when you have to bend your arms all the time (which you do when you pick apples) and gets worst at night if you sleep with your arm bent up next to your head, which of course I do. I have to try and find a weird way to sleep with my arm straight which is much … Continue reading →

Last night I went to a salsa party in Napier. Of course I wasn’t very good dancing after just one lesson, but it was good to get out and do something. Today I had to work, because of all the picking we missed we even picked on Sunday. I was very tired but it ended up to be my best day with $175 – that’s alright. While I was working N. repaired Harry. Of course it’s the last day to do it. Tomorrow I have to take it to the warranty station, to get it rechecked and to show that … Continue reading →